Heart Bugs
by Seattle'sBest42
Summary: Erica is practicing in DC now, has a growing relationship with a new lady, and bunches of new adventures! Because I need to believe Hahn is out there happy somewhere.
1. Chapter 1

**Title: Heart Bug - Chapter One**

**Pairing: Erica/OC**

**Rating: PG-13 for now, will jump to R/NC-17 later**

**Summary: Erica has moved on to a new life and new set of adventures in Washington DC. There are new friends, students and women and an old mentor.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Grey's Anatomy, nor any of the characters in it. Everything in this story is fictional and I am not making a profit from this.**

**A/N: Ok, so as much as I'm glad that Callie and Arizona are not splitting up, I'm a Callica, and specifically an Erica, fan at heart. So I was in the mood to fiddle with an Erica piece for a while. First two parts are up, more will be coming shortly. I'm taking total liberty with all the medicine and mostly everything else here, haha. Hopefully, enjoy.  
**

* * *

"Ok, I'm all finished here, Dr. Dylan, would you like to close for me?"

"Yes, of course Dr. Hahn," replied Dr. Sydney Dylan quickly. The fourth year resident quickly and confidently asked for the appropriate instruments from the scrub nurse, not forgetting to throw a quick smile her way.

"I could assist in closing, Dr. Hahn!" Dr. Jacob Dillinger jumped in eagerly. Also a fourth year, Jacob shot a wide eyed look at Erica Hahn, hoping his puppy dog face might persuade her.

"It only takes one over eager resident to close here, doctors," Erica replied firmly, already on her way out of the OR. She took a breath and surveyed her team of doctors in the room, from attendings to interns. She was satisfied with the level of skill in the room. "You'll get the next one, Dillinger."

Sydney couldn't help sticking her tongue out at Jake, realizing too late her friend and top competitor couldn't appreciate it from under her mask. She made sure to add a "ha ha" as she focused on the stitches under her needle.

"Whatever Dylan, the next case is mine. And it'll be something better than this. Maybe a transplant . . . or a super trauma . . . or a –"

"You're morbid, you know that, right?" Sydney cut in.

"No, just ambitious. That's why I'm going to be a cardio god here one day," Jake said in what would sound like a pompous voice to anyone who didn't know the all too sweet cardio resident.

"Well, I guess it's really unfortunate for you then that Hahn likes me better. And she's going to teach me all her cardio secrets. And then I'll leave you in the cardio dust. Maybe you should just switch into derm now. Save yourself some work."

"Pshhh, it's just because you're a girl. And Hahn likes - "

Erica, who had been watching and listening through the activated intercom this entire time decided to cut off her residents before they got into trouble.

"Hey you two," she interjected in her gravely, authoritative tone, "I can still hear you, you know. And at this rate, I'm not going to teach either one of you anything." She turned off the intercom, having finished scrubbing out, and actually laughed to herself. She watched the two residents stiffen up and mouth 'I'm sorries' through the window. As she walked out of the scrub room into the hallways of Georgetown University Hospital, she allowed herself to reflect on her situation here.

Erica never thought there would be a time when she would be happy to have not one, but two, eager cardio residents on her service on a regular basis. But two things made this situation different than her time teaching at Seattle Grace. First of all, Sydney Dylan and Jake Dillinger were somehow less annoying than Cristina Yang, even though they were just as driven. Erica suspected it had something to do with the fact that they were a pair; the two had been best friends since they began their internships together and most of their competitive spirit was channeled in between each other. Erica found herself able to be amused at their drive and spirited personalities since they were not harping on her, but rather on each other. The pair was also able to separate personal relationship from their professional endeavors, although Erica had noticed that Sydney was a smidge better than Jake at this.

"And here are the rest of my charts for the day, signed and delivered," Hahn said as she handed the stack over to Jennifer, a young cardio nurse, in reception.

"Thanks Dr. Hahn. You done for the day?" Jennifer asked, more than a note of intrigue lingering in her voice. Erica had come to accept that Jackie was indeed flirting with her. At first, she had been reluctant to believe it, only accepting that the younger woman had it bad for her after a decent amount of persuasion by her friend, Dr. Kate Robinson, an attending in general surgery.

"I am done. And looking forward to a hot bath, some greasy take out, and my day off tomorrow."

"Greasy food, Erica? And you're supposed to be a cardio god?" Jennifer retorted, shaking her head in a mocking gesture of reproach.

"Just one of the benefits eating oatmeal and brussel sprouts for the last twenty years has afforded me, Jen." Erica smirked, nodding her head and leaving to find the attendings lounge.

She continued her inner monologue of reflection, and thought about the other reason she was able to teach Dylan and Dillinger, whom most in the hospital lovingly referred to as the Double D's, effectively, and even enjoy it once and a while. And that was simply her new situation here at Georgetown. If she was being totally honest with herself, it was more her change in perspective since leaving Seattle and settling here in Washington DC. She was comfortable for the first time in a good number of years, and although her tribulations in Seattle had driven her here, it was also because of them that she had reached this new stage of her life.

Erica was not afraid of surgery. She was not afraid of challenges in the OR, nor standing up to colleagues and superiors. She didn't balk at hard work or at cozying right up to the boundaries of the cardiothoracic field. She did however become tentative at the idea of personal relationships. She didn't enter into close relationships often, but if and when she did, she expected loyalty, her personality and its imperfections demanded it. It's not that she didn't do well with betrayal, it was that Erica Hahn didn't do betrayal at all. And perhaps that was a dramatic way to look at what Callie had done to her, but it ended up in the same feelings anyway. So in her mind she had no choice but to leave.

Upon taking the position as head of cardio at Georgetown and settling back into a mid-Atlantic home for the second time in her life, Erica realized she had two options. Coming from this personal tragedy, she could let it destroy her or she could start over. For the first time in her life, she was sure of what she wanted in the people around her, sure of what she wanted in someone to date. And she had figured that getting her heart destroyed after coming out to her best friend was probably the worst of what life could throw at her for now. And so she went in to this new job, this new stage of her life, expecting nothing, but at the same time, knowing it could only get better from here.

Erica made it to her locker and stripped off her scrubs and pulled on some jeans and a t-shirt. She was now head of cardiothoracics at a respected hospital, had good working relationships with her fellow attendings as well as her residents, and even had a couple doctors she would consider good friends within the hospital. She liked Washington DC, considering it to be Baltimore for adults. She was slowly rebounding from the drama of Seattle Grace, and while life was still hard at times and she couldn't say things were perfect, she was content and there were more than a few moments where she actually felt pretty happy. She even laughed quietly to herself as she realized she had spent just over nine months not having to worry about carrying an umbrella out of the hospital each night.

"Ok, I knew you were crazy Erica, but laughing to yourself just makes me think your old ass is suffering from dementia," a voice said, as the door to the attendings lounge opened and closed.

Erica turned around to see Dr. Kate Robinson, the first person who had reached out to her in DC and the person whom she considered her best friend here. Kate was small and loud, quick-witted and almost as stubborn as Erica. She was mildly famous around the hospital for a fairly dirty mouth and her marriage to Josh Swift, a ridiculously attractive male nurse who was a mere 25 years old. Normally, Erica would have been off put by someone like Kate, but Kate wouldn't take no in regards to their friendship, and eventually Erica had become grateful for that.

"Can it, Kate. Having flings with boys half your age doesn't make you any younger. If I'm in the market to go crazy, you won't be far behind me," Erica replied, smiling the whole time.

"Ha. My fling is not a fling. It is a marriage, a happy one at that. And maybe if you found yourself a hot little number, you'd have someone to laugh with, instead of giggling at god knows what alone in here."

"I don't need a 'hot little number' Kate. I need a hot bath and a glass of wine," she said, rubbing the back of her neck.

"Hmm, is that why Jennifer was mumbling on about hot baths and greasy food just now?"

"Oy, probably," Erica sighed, "I really don't know how to be any more direct with her – it's getting a little embarrassing at this point."

"Yeah, hot twenty-somethings wanting your ass are always embarrassing. Just do what I did and make it official. Makes it less scandalous."

"Only marginally. And no. It's not her age. It's her personality, her lack of experience, her . . . when I do date someone again, I want it to be someone of substance. Someone who is stable, and sane and knows what they want out of life."

"Sorry E, I'm taken," Kate just barely stuck her finger in her mouth, pouting with sexy bedroom eyes, her short blonde bob bouncing up and down a little.

Erica just pursed her lips and shook her head. "What were you doing in the cardio wing anyway?"

"Looking for you hot stuff. Wanted to make sure we were still on for dinner tomorrow night."

"Tomorrow night?"

"Yeah, my brother is opening a new restaurant in Dupont Circle . . . The gayborhood . . . You're my gay friend . . . It just makes sense. You forgot, didn't you?" Kate genuinely looked hurt.

Erica quickly assuaged her fears, "No, it just slipped my mind. I was thinking about my trip up to Baltimore tomorrow. Although, I'm still a little uncomfortable being your token gay friend. I mean, I haven't even managed a successful gay relationship yet," Erica laughed, despite herself.

"First, Erica, you will. You're hot, you're smart, and you have an ass to die for," Kate said deadpan serious as she placed her hand on Erica's shoulder. "Secondly, are you still nervous about tomorrow?"

"I'm just not sure what he could want. My old mentor calls after ten years and asks me to come see him and he won't say why. I know I'm just over thinking, but I can't help it. I hope nothing's wrong," Erica contemplated.

"It's probably nothing," Kate agreed, "Or he's dying and wants you to inherit his fortune and cardio legacy."

"Thanks," Erica said sarcastically. She added, "But seriously, if he tries to leave me a cat or something in his will, what do I do?"

Kate laughed out loud as the two surgeons began to walk out of the hospital together. "You be thankful he doesn't have any children!"

They were both laughing now as they stepped out into the cool Washington DC spring. Erica smiled, relishing one of those moments where she knew contentment bordered on happiness.

"Ok lady, I'll give you a call on my way back from Baltimore tomorrow and then I'll come be your date for the night."

"Sounds good, night Erica."

"Night, Kate."

* * *

The sun was just beginning to fade as Erica drove her new Audi convertible the short distance to her house in the Woodly Park neighborhood of the city. She had bought the car shortly after moving east as a present to herself, a standing congratulations for simply surviving Seattle and its drama. Kate made many references to the car as a mid-life crisis purchase as well as a substitute girlfriend, but Erica dismissed them all whenever she got the chance to speed around the beltway. Which was actually rarely, considering the horrendous traffic in DC.

Tonight, she was grateful for her short commute, a peaceful ride really through the neighborhood streets of DC. She was getting to know the businesses around her home, as well as the parks, the running routes, and the people. As she pulled into her small driveway, she actually saw her two neighbors to her right out on their front porch. Craig and David had lived in their house for seven years and made sure that Erica knew they were thankful for her moving in, since it meant the stuffy Republican couple that lived there previously had moved out. Erica really did some contemplating about karma and fate when she realized she had bought a home next to a gay couple, but in the end had rationally chalked it up to mathematical coincidence.

She got out of her car and waved to the two young men, "Evening guys," she called over.

"Hi Erica, how are you?" David asked politely.

"Oh hanging in there, you know."

"Any big plans for the weekend? It's supposed to be gorgeous."

"Just a quick trip up to Baltimore tomorrow morning and then a restaurant opening with a friend tomorrow night."

"Ooh, anywhere good? We just keep going to the same old places around here," Craig lamented offhandedly.

"It's my friend's brother's new place. Somewhere in Dupont, I think," Erica replied.

"Hmm, well tell us if it's good, we might have to check it out. We do tend to spend enough time down there," David said.

"Well, we used to, when we used to go out. Now we just sit around here like old, boring men," Craig added.

"Well, some of us have grown up jobs that start early in the morning," David said firmly.

"And some of us are artists, being led around by pure inspiration and not clocks!" Craig illustrated his point with his hands, leading Erica to wonder just how many gay men were this stereotypical. She laughed and shook her head just a little.

"I'll definitely be in touch guys, have a good night," she waved and made for her stairs.

"Night Erica," they managed to say in unison.

* * *

Erica walked inside her newly renovated row house, kicking off her shoes, hanging up her coat, and throwing her keys in the basket by the door. She immediately walked into her kitchen, popped the cork on an already open bottle of Cabernet and poured herself a glass. She sat down on her living room couch and clicked on the tv to the evening news. She sipped for a few minutes, letting her mind go blank, letting the surgeries and sick patients and paperwork stress drain from her mind and body. After finding some success with Dr. Wyatt in Seattle, Erica had decided to continue seeing a counselor in DC. She was still a surgeon, instinctively drawn toward being proactive, and thus therapy was a logical addition to her life. Her new therapist had suggested the mind drain technique for relaxing, and tonight after realizing she had no idea what the local news anchor had been saying for the past five minutes, grudgingly relented that it wasn't a bad technique.

With her mind clear now, her thoughts wandered back to her meeting with Dr. Max Greenfield, the cardiologist who had taught her most of what she knew back as a resident. The cardio surgeon who had taken Erica under his care, both professionally and personally at the beginning of her career. Erica still remembered the years in his OR vividly. In those days, her intelligence and skills were already burgeoning but her sense of confidence was hardly developed yet.

Her father had died when Erica was only three and her mother had worked non-stop to be able to provide for Erica and her younger brother, Aaron. Erica worked hard through high school and college, focusing on schoolwork above anything else. She did have friends, even a few close ones over the years and had dated different boys throughout her time at school. She thought back to Matt Hensen, whom she had dated throughout medical school and into her first couple years of residency. They had worked well as a couple because they were so personally driven. They respected each other's need to study hard and progress professionally and were good enough at the couple thing to attend functions and share a bed together. It had ended with a fizzle rather than a bang when the pair simply realized there was not spark enough to turn their comfortable relationship into anything more permanent, like marriage. Neither had been too upset to see it end.

But without a doubt, Erica's relationship with Dr. Greenfield had been the most meaningful and intense she had experienced to that point in her life. He recognized what she had yet to even see in herself back then, and instantly began to teach her, both inside and outside of the OR. He refined her skills with a scalpel, and taught her to be proud and confident of her abilities. She remembered a dinner with Max after she had taken her first attending position at Seattle Presbyterian.

_"The new position is great, Max. The chief is wonderful, the other attendings have been supportive, but . . . I think I overheard some residents commenting about my ego," Erica said, shrugging her shoulders, "I blame you."_

_ "Haha," Max chuckled, "I've created a monster. Albeit a wonderfully brilliant, talented monster. And I'll take that in cardio any day."_

Erica knew that without Dr. Greenfield, she would still be a talented surgeon, but no where near the cardio god that she had become already in her career. She owed a lot to him, and so when he called her after finding out she was back on the East coast, she could hardly refuse to go visit him up at Johns Hopkins, where she had studied years ago. She was concerned, however, that he refused to disclose the details of their visit.

_"Can't an old surgeon just invite his favorite student out to lunch to catch up, Erica?" Dr. Greenfield asked innocently._

_"Well, of course Max. And you know I'm always up for a chance to stay in touch. It's just that I've been in DC for nearly nine months now, and you're only calling me now. You taught me all your sneaky tricks, don't think that you can pull them on me now," Erica replied._

_"Well, then you're just going to have to humor me and come up to Baltimore this weekend."_

_"Alright, I'll come," Erica paused, "But it better not be bad news, I've already had a hell of a year."_

Erica had finished her wine and decided that the news was depressing anyway. She turned off the tv and headed into her bedroom, really more excited than she should have been about being able to sleep in on her day off tomorrow.


	2. Chapter 2

**Title: Heart Bug - Chapter Two**

**Pairing: Erica/OC**

**Rating: PG-13 for now, will jump to R/NC-17 later**

**Summary: Erica finds out what her mentor wants and has a dinner adventure in the city.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Grey's Anatomy, nor any of the characters in it. Everything in this story is fictional and I am not making a profit from this.**

**A/N: I made things up about Johns Hopkins. Because this is a story and I can!  
**

* * *

Erica Hahn drove fast that May morning up I-95 to Baltimore, this being the first time she had visited the city in years. She thought back to her years in medical school here, memories ignited by the passing scenery. The inner harbor, Camden Yards, even the Domino Sugar sign reminded Erica of a time she now realized was fairly long ago. Granted, she rarely had the time to enjoy the city she spent med school in, but she did manage to see a few things before she moved west. She was still just learning DC, but she decided she would also try to make it a habit to come back up this way to explore.

Her former mentor, Dr. Max Greenfield, was now retired from active surgery and taught at Johns Hopkins on a regular basis. He also traveled several times a year to give lectures at cardio conferences, although he would admit that most times he felt like a talking head at those functions. Still, it was nice to keep in touch with the cardio community and escape the world graduate students once and a while.

Erica parked and as she began to walk through campus on route to Max's office, Erica realized a lot had changed in the area since she had visited last. New buildings lined the once familiar paths, and while she was pleased to see the program growing and progressing, she was not pleased with being slightly lost, and even less pleased with the idea of being late for her meeting. She reached down into her bag to pull the map of campus Max had sent her. She hated looking like she didn't know what she was doing, but she hated not knowing what she was doing even more.

She picked her head up attempting to scan to scan for the library just in time to run directly into a cooler and two large crates. As she fell to the ground, Erica realized there was a person on the other side of these large objects, who apparently had also fallen backwards in their cartoon collision.

"Oh god, I'm so sorry!" said the woman as she stepped forward to help Erica up, "I couldn't see around this stuff, but I didn't really want to take two trips to the truck, and here I am just running people down and . . . are you ok?" The woman paused to regard Erica for the first time.

"I'm fine, it's no problem really," Erica replied, looking up into bright hazel eyes. She quickly took in the woman's light brown hair, piled in curls on top of her head. She was dressed in khaki cargo pants, a tight fitting maroon tank top and low cut women's boots. The only thing that struck Erica more than the woman's natural, if messy, good looks was the fact that she didn't exactly look like she belonged on a medical school campus.

"Are you sure? I just knocked you out with a thirty gallon cooler," the woman laughed nervously as she bent down to stack up her crates once again.

"I'm fine, I promise," Erica assured, "Perhaps you could make it up to me by pointing me toward the Turley Center?"

"Oh of course, it's just on the other side of this monstrosity," she gestured upward at what was obviously a fairly new piece of construction. "Great new labs on the inside, pretty darn ugly from out here."

"Thanks, thank you," Erica said nervously, not sure if she was required to offer this woman help with her large bundle.

She seemed to sense Erica's hesitation and promptly flashed a huge, genuine smile, "Alright, I'm off to take out more unwitting visitors. Have a nice day." And with that she turned to shuffle along the path toward the faculty parking lot.

"Bye," Erica said, although she was sure by the time she remembered to speak, the woman was out of hearing distance.

_Damn, _Erica thought_, what was that? Here I am, nearly a year after finally admitting to myself that I like women, and still a brief encounter with a pretty stranger is enough to color me speechless. I should have at least asked her her name, that's an appropriate first step, right? She's probably not even . . . _

Erica snapped out of her daydream upon hearing the campus bells chiming the fact that she was indeed late in finding Max. She gathered her thoughts and her bag and walked purposefully in the direction the brunette had pointed out.

* * *

"You want me to teach your class, is that what you're saying?" Erica said, her eyebrows arching far past her normally incredulous position on her forehead.

"It's not even a full class, it's a biweekly seminar on the basics of cardiothoracic science for last year med students," Dr. Greenfield replied softly.

"I don't know, Max. I don't even like teaching my own residents," she laughed, trying to soften the blow. Erica and Max had spent nearly an hour catching up on all the basics of their lives since the last time they had visited, save a few details that Erica wasn't sure she was ready to share with her mentor, with the man who was the closest thing to a father she had ever had. But when he asked her if she was interested in taking over a class at Johns Hopkins, she thought back to the dementia that Kate had mentioned the day prior and began to wonder if her mentor had gotten there already.

"These students need someone dynamic, someone who has their hands inside chests on a daily basis. The girls need a strong woman to learn from and the boys need some humility," he chuckled a moment before his face got serious, "plus I've been subtly asked to take a step back here."

Erica tilted her head sideways, really taking in the age of the man in front of her for the first time. It didn't however soften her position toward teaching a bunch of students younger than interns. She taught other attendings, other experts in the field. On occasion she taught residents, and in rare circumstances, she entertained interns. But medical students? She had neither the patience nor the time to deal with medicine at that level anymore.

"Max, you know I have a hard time saying no to you - "

"Then don't," he smiled.

" – But I'm already busy enough down at Georgetown and _really_," she stressed, "teaching is not my strength as a physician."

"The semester doesn't start for a couple of weeks, Erica. Think about it. Walk around Baltimore and eat some crabs, walk around campus and talk to some of the students. You just . . . you have a lot to give."

_Give back_, is all that Erica could think, and with that thought she only wanted to mollify Dr. Greenfield. "I'll think about it," she paused again, "It was really nice seeing you Max."

"You too Erica, always a pleasure."

She stood and hugged the older man, once again glimpsing how time had taken its toll on the doctor's small and increasingly frail frame. She turned to walk out of the impressive office, turning back briefly at Max's voice.

"And Erica, you look good, I mean it, you look really good."

"Thanks Max. But I'm not nearly girly enough for that to work." She winked briefly and walked out.

Erica walked back out through campus just as lost in her head as when she went in. She looked around campus, full of students ready to start something new in their lives, students ready to give medicine their all. It was a far cry from doctors stealing hearts and sleeping around in on-call rooms 24/7. There was a certain perfection to their naïveté; they had yet to make mistakes. Erica recalled her mentality at the beginning of medical school. Science she had already mastered, finishing her undergrad with a double major and honors. What she learned in medical school was more than anatomy. She learned confidence, she learned to command authority, she learned to trust her skills, to trust herself. She thought back to her first real meeting with Dr. Greenfield.

_Erica was half way through her second semester at Johns Hopkins. On this particular night she was finishing a lecture in physiology. Their usual professor had been replaced by Dr. Maxwell Greenfield, a cardiothoracic surgeon who had been brought in to lecture on heart anatomy. At the end of class, Dr. Greenfield was charged with returning the students' exams from the previous week. _

_ "And where is Erica Hahn?" He asked the remaining four students, having given out most of the other papers._

_ "That would be me, sir." Erica said quickly, standing next to her boyfriend, Matt. She looked at the surgeon squarely, but did not say anything else. Her mind was racing. Did she fail? Impossible. Did she mix up the parts of the – _

_ "So you're the girl who keeps getting perfect scores on your anatomy practicals?"_

_ "Sir?"_

_ "Well, I saw that you aced this one – renal and excretory systems, not the easiest or most entertaining subject material – and so I glanced back through the class's grades. Good group you've got here, but you've managed a 98 or above on each test so far. That's quite the achievement Miss Hahn," he said. Dr. Greenfield spoke with an air of surprise, but an expression of amusement. He was impressed.  
_

_ "Thank you sir. I like this course, it's just the basics you know," she said with a certain amount of nonchalance. She spoke softly though, not wanting to sound pompous._

_ "You're modest Erica. It's not a bad thing . . . but if I were you," he smiled fondly, recalling a memory, "and I _was_ you in med school, I would be damn proud of myself so far."_

_ Erica smiled wide at the man and nodded, her shoulders a little more squared. _

_ "You have potential Miss Hahn. One day you could be Dr. Hahn, cardio god extraordinaire," he laughed._

_ Erica laughed too and grabbed her boyfriend's hand and walked out of the room. _That doesn't seem like such a bad idea to me_, she thought._

Erica pulled her cell phone out of her pocket just as she was approaching her car.

"Max? . . . I'll do it."

* * *

She had just barely made it to the restaurant on time, between Friday afternoon traffic and the hour she had spent in front of her closet mirror trying to decide what to wear to a restaurant opening in a trendy gay neighborhood. She settled on tailored grey slacks and a crisp three quarter white button down shirt after chastising herself for being too much of a girl. The interior of the restaurant was open but dimly lit, the ambiance echoing the Asian inspired food that was the basis of the menu. Erica and Kate had been seated and treated to a bottle of champagne that they were already enjoying.

"So you're going to haul ass up to Baltimore once a week to teach kids?" Kate asked incredulously.

"It's once every other week and . . . I don't know, I feel like I owe it to the guy. He hand picked me in med school to teach and watch over. And when I started my residency, he was there every step of the way. He's the reason I know what a heart is at all," she paused, wondering how much to tell Kate. She wasn't used to divulging this much information with somebody, but she felt comfortable with Kate, she liked telling the woman her secrets actually. "He was the closest thing to a father I've ever had," she said plainly.

"Yours died when you were young, right?" Kate asked. The quality that Erica liked best about the doctor was her ability to maneuver from crass, upfront sarcasm and honesty to genuine concern and her uncanny ability to do so in situations the same way Erica did.

"I was three. My mom talked about him sometimes, but scarcely enough to know that he probably wasn't all that good a guy when he was around, so . . ." She sipped her flute of champagne, "Max stepped in. He was a teacher, he was a mentor, without him I'd only be one of the best cardiothoracic surgeons in the country and not the world," she added, her face cracking into a wide smile.

"So we have that bastard to blame for your black hole sized ego?" she exclaimed exuberantly, "Great, I'm gonna come up to Baltimore with you one week and kick his ass!"

"Nah, I did most of that on my own," Erica laughed, "But I figure the least I can do is spend a few hours a month teaching kids about hearts. Maybe I can weed the rejects out early enough to not have them bothering me as residents!" She lifted her flute up to toast Kate in a grand gesture as the two doctors shared a laugh.

"Are you toasting to my fabulous new restaurant, Kate?" asked a voice rounding the corner, belonging to a young, attractive man approaching their table.

"Kevin! Not at all. We're toasting to Erica here taking on her own class of young, impressionable soon to be ex-medical students," Kate embellished, "Kevin Robinson meet Dr. Erica Hahn."

"A pleasure, Erica."

"Same. This is quite a space you've created here, though. Congratulations," she remarked earnestly.

"Thank you. It's been mine and my partner's dream in the making for almost two years now."

Erica raised her eyebrows slightly at Kate in a question.

"Business partner, Erica. Not everyone is gay like you."

"I didn't . . . I . . . um," Erica stuttered, embarrassed at misreading the situation, and for being outed, something she still wasn't quite used to. At once, Kate and Kevin turned toward each other and laughed heartily.

"Oh honey, it's ok. My partner has a partner, so in all fairness, you're half right," Kevin glanced to his right, "And here he is now. James, you unfortunately already know my sister Kate, and this is her colleague, Dr. Erica Hahn."

James addressed the two women, shaking their hands politely. He then looked directly at Erica, eyes running up and down her now nervous body.

"So you're the number that Kate's been telling me I have to fix up with one of my lady friends!"

Erica vaguely remembered ordering something with tomatoes in it, and she was hoping that it wouldn't be delivered any time soon, saving the rest of her party from being able to make the association any better. She was red and was desperately trying to look at anything in the room other than the three people near her.

"James!" Kate squealed, "You're supposed to do that in private, not tell her about it. Set it up and make it look like an accident." She reached over and squeezed Erica's hand.

"Oh it's ok," Erica relented, "I figured this was coming at some point in our friendship, might as well be now."

Kevin jumped in, "Well, we figured it would be bad luck to do before we actually opened, but in a few weeks, we're going to have a private, after-hours opening celebration. You should come no matter what, but we do have quite a few single lady friends."

"Definitely," James added, "And you are certainly adorable enough to catch one of their eyes. Ok, I think we need to go make sure our kitchen is still standing. Ladies, enjoy the rest of your evening."

The two men walked away and Erica took a large swig from her champagne flute and Kate graciously refilled it the moment it hit the table. Kate laughed a little at Erica's lack of comfort and Erica just shook her head. She could pull them off when she had to or wanted to, but social situations were still not her forte. Despite this, however, she was enjoying herself tonight, minor embarrassment and all.

"I'm sorry for that Erica, Kevin and James are quite the pair," she sipped on her own champagne, "But they do throw quite a party, so if we're not working, we should definitely go to that."

"Did he just call me adorable? Because I haven't been called adorable since I was twelve. And I didn't even like it then. Is that a gay thing?" Erica lowered her voice, not wanting to draw any more attention to herself.

Kate laughed out loud, "Wow, honey. You're going to need several more bottles of this if you're ever going to relax enough to meet a lady. We'll be sure to set some aside for the party."

"Ugh, we'll see about that."

"Oh come on now, you spend how many hours a week at the hospital? And you've already flat out refused to make a go at anyone there - '

"With good reason!" Erica interjected.

"Yeah, yeah, you tried that already. So where else are you going to meet a nice young lady to settle down and make babies with," she said sarcastically.

Erica gave her famous Hahn eyebrow at the mention of babies and said, barely above a whisper, "At Johns Hopkins maybe . . ."

"What was that? Hopkins?" Kate asked, very interested, "Erica tell me you're not trolling around for med students now. Because that's even worse than hot young nurse husbands."

"No, of course not!" Erica dismissed outright, but then tentatively added, "She just kind of ran into me. She was cute, we talked for a bit. I . . . I don't know."

"Ooh, so you got a number?"

"Well, no."

"Well, what's her name, maybe we can stalk her through the world of academia."

"Ididn'texactlygethername."

"What was that, Erica?" Kate leaned in close.

"I didn't exactly get her name," Erica said sheepishly.

"Aahh, so you're at the point where you're just running into women you find attractive on the street, and then running away again before you get any sort of information. I think you're well on you're way to meeting Ms. Ri - "

"Oh shut up already. I'll go to the damn party."

"See, that's all I'm asking. Ooh look, our food is here."

Their food was served, and as Erica had anticipated, it was delicious. Cooking was something she never had the time to learn and therefore rarely did. They enjoyed the rest of their meal and a lot more champagne. Kevin and James surprised the two ladies with personalized dessert and a second invitation to their party. After the initial conversation, Erica was able to relax and forgot about her personal life, or lack thereof. She was able to forget about surgeries and work for an evening and enjoy the company of her best friend and her social circle. Erica smiled as they left the restaurant, spilling out onto the streets, relishing another moment in this new phase of her life, in her new life.

* * *

**So how are we feeling about this so far? I have a definite direction I want to go in, and obviously a lady love for Miss Hahn around the corner. I'm totally new at this, so let me know what you think. **


	3. Chapter 3

**Title: Heart Bugs - Chapter Three**

**Pairing: Erica/OC**

**Rating: PG-13 for now, will jump to R/NC-17 later**

**Summary: Erica begins teaching and meets a girl or two.  
**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Grey's Anatomy, nor any of the characters in it. Everything in this story is fictional and I am not making a profit from this.**

**

* * *

**Erica grabbed the chart from the stack at the nurses' station and purposefully flipped it open. She scanned over the last notes from Dr. Dylan's pre-op labs and let a satisfied look creep onto her face. This should be a straightforward angioplasty with no complications. And for that Erica was especially thankful, because for the first time in a long while, Erica felt a connection to one of her patients.

She normally tried to avoid personal connections; they did not aid her in being a better surgeon. She maintained a manner necessary to assure a professional bedside manner but there was no room in cardiothoracic surgery for especially deep connections. Erica saw people at their worst, she saw people who had tried everything else and were usually resorting to their last options. She performed surgeries on people who sought out the best because the best was their only shot. And not only did that mean Erica Hahn had to be entirely focused on the medicine at hand, it also meant that she lost patients more than other surgeons tended to.

Erica knew this manner of operation, so to speak, made her appear even more cold than her awkward personal attitude already made her, but there was no other option if she were to continue to maintain her reputation as a cardio god. Hell, it was common to the position. Preston Burke had been a decent guy, Erica grudgingly relented, but the man was also sufficiently detached and professional to the utmost degree. Erica had also heard that Seattle Grace had initially replaced her with Virginia Dixon, a woman whose detachment was biological and innately helped her be one of the best.

But despite the automatic way in which Erica's professionalism usually prevented her from becoming to intimate with her patients, it happened every once and a while. She realized, as she walked toward the scrub room, that this was the first time she had felt something more for a patient since the transplant incident at Seattle Grace. She wondered, as she laughed a little to herself, if she was becoming soft in her old age. She entered the large scrub room and thought about her final meeting with the patient and his family as she began methodically cleaning under her short fingernails.

She had been talking to the 56-year-old man, informing him of the procedure they were going to be doing, the possible risks, and the aftercare that would be necessary to maintain the healthy heart she was about to deliver. The man had nodded stoically throughout the speech, glancing occasionally at his wife and two young adult children in the room.

When Erica finished, he emphatically replied, "Alright doc, I think I've got all that, and I'm ready when you are."

His wife, letting her nerves spill over just a bit, gushed momentarily. "We just really want to thank you Dr. Hahn. I know this isn't the worst you've ever seen, but this is scary for us. We just want to get Charles back up and healthy," She squeezed her husband's hand, "Gotta make sure he's around for Jesse's wedding and Bree's graduation from med school."

"Well, rest assured, Mrs. Lopez," she said with a truly sincere look in her eyes, "Even though this surgery is routine, I take it very seriously. You should have nothing to worry about." She looked at their two children and added, "You guys either."

Erica had wandered around the halls that afternoon wondering just what it was about this patient, this specific family that was affecting her so. And as she wandered up to the coffee cart to catch an extra caffeine buzz, she saw the patient's daughter and suddenly realized why. Here was a young girl, probably 25, if she was finishing up medical school, with a tanned Hispanic complexion and long dark hair. She turned around and caught sight of the blonde surgeon approaching.

"Hi, Dr. Hahn. Sorry about my mom back there. She's been a little crazy about my dad since his heart attack," the girl said apologetically.

"Oh don't worry about it," Erica brushed it off, "She was mild compared to some of the families I've dealt with. I'm used to it," she laughed.

"You really get used to this sort of thing?" Bree asked, her face betraying the idea that one should. "Well, I guess you have to . . . but still . . ."

"That's right, you're finishing up med school, right?" The girl nodded. "It's part of it, yeah. You don't get used to it so much as you . . . just learn how to deal with it. Does that make sense?"

The girl laughed, "No, not yet at least. I suppose I'll find out soon enough though."

Erica took a first, much appreciated sip of coffee she had just received and asked, "Where are you at by the way?"

"Hopkins. We live about half way between here and Baltimore, but everyone said you were the best. So we came down here to DC."

"Well, I may be here, but you will be graduating from the best. And my alma matter, as a matter of fact. And," she added with the head nod of an afterthought, "I'll be teaching a seminar there this summer."

"Wait, the cardio introduction?"

"That would be the one. Are you taking it?"

"I am. I thought Dr. Greenfield was teaching it, he's the cardio god around there," she inquired.

"He was. He asked if I could step . . . if I wanted to try my hand at teaching for a semester," Erica said, not wanting to divulge that her mentor was starting to take a step back from the field.

"Well, I'm definitely looking forward to it now," the girl said as enthusiastically as she did honestly.

Erica nodded politely, and as she began to walk away down the hallway, heard the girl add, "Oh and Dr. Hahn?" Erica turned around. "You know if anything happens to my dad now, you'll owe me an automatic "A" in the class, right?"

Erica stared at the girl, her eyebrows questioning the girl's presumption, the girl's nerve until her face broke and she started laughing. Erica relaxed, not as amused as Bree wanted her to be.

"I'm sorry. I guess I am more nervous than I thought I was."

Erica still wasn't pleased but replied, "It's ok. The day you're not nervous is the day you begin to actually worry," she glanced around, searching for the right words. "It's all about using those nerves, using them to be a better doctor." She nodded again for emphasis and continued walking away.

Erica was just about done scrubbing in, as she felt the nerves creep into her stomach. She would use these nerves. Sometimes it was ok to care just a little bit, Erica thought, especially if caring was a way to drive you to be a better surgeon. She walked in the OR, as confident as she had ever been.

"Ok, people, let's get started."

* * *

"Hi, Dr. Hahn," Jennifer practically bubbled over, "How did your angio go?"

"Peachy keen, Jennifer," Erica replied, not knowing if her voice could be any more sarcastic. The procedure did go well, and for that Erica was happy, but she was still in no mood to deal with her flighty young admirer. Honestly, if Jennifer weren't so good at her job, Erica would have suspected she worked for a fashion magazine or something equally as trivial.

"I guess a no stress procedure means you can skip your daily revival bubble bath?" she asked, knowing that it would push Erica's boundaries.

Just as Erica was deciding whether to admonish the girl for her absolute disregard for professional tact or to simply come back with a wittier remark that would leave the nurse hanging, her pager sounded, allowing her to do neither. She walked away with a shake of her head, saying, "Duty calls."

Erica approached the nurses' station downstairs in the ER wing. It looked fairly quiet; she was thankful there were no major traumas at this hour in the evening.

"I was paged," she said as a matter of question to the nurse in charge downstairs, noting how much older and plainer she was compared to Jennifer. _Now where did that come from_, she thought.

"I paged you, Dr. Hahn."

Erica turned around at the voice to see Dr. Ramon Benson, one of the ER attendings. Erica liked him well enough, but couldn't help thinking that the man was just unbelievably boring. A few times at various hospital functions they were all required to attend, Erica found herself trapped with this man and his never ending stories about, well, nothing. Eventually, she and Kate had devised a system of escape for those sorts of situations. Erica never let these personal opinions affect her judgment of the man as a doctor, but still, she didn't have to enjoy spending any more time with the man than necessary.

"Dr. Benson," she addressed him.

"I've got a female, age 37, with a possible broken arm and multiple contusions," he began as they walked toward the far corner of the large, open room.

"And I was paged why?" Erica asked, a little more curt than she really meant to sound.

"Because upon initial examination, one of my residents noticed an arrhythmia. No history of heart problems or heart disease in the family," Dr. Benson replied, opening up the sea foam green curtain. "Marcia Stravinsky, this is Dr. Hahn."

Erica's eyes immediately settled upon a pair of hazel ones and recognized the woman from the Hopkins campus the day before. The woman's smile and cocked head told her the recognition was mutual.

"You're the woman I mowed over yesterday," the brunette replied, smiling through the obvious pain of her injured arm.

"Dr. Erica Hahn," she smiled back, extending her hand. The woman used her unhurt, left hand to greet the blonde doctor, the awkwardness of the exchange in no way stealing from its unexpected electricity.

"So what exactly happened here, Marcia?" Erica asked, snapping back into doctor mode quickly.

"Marsh, call me Marsh, everyone does," she said quickly, "And what happened was . . . embarrassing. I was out on my boat, taking samples of beetles and damselflies, I'm an entomologist by the way, and I leaned over too far with my net and just . . . fell in. Not like I'm out in boats all the time or anything," she rambled slightly, breaking into a sort of smile, "But it was ok, because a giant submerged log broke my fall." She was more than a little embarrassed as she gingerly held up her arm in explanation.

Erica smiled reassuringly, amused and slightly taken with the woman sitting in front of her. "Well, I know it's probably painful, but it honestly doesn't look too bad. Ortho will be down in just a bit to check it out, but for now I'm going to take a listen to your heart, if that's ok.

Marsh nodded in a gesture that said it was, and Erica gently placed her stethoscope against the woman's chest. All of the sudden, she felt those nerves creeping up on her again and it was all she could do to keep her hand steady. She knew the brunette's eyes were on her and so she kept her gaze aimed at the wall behind the woman, thankful that Dr. Benson had walked away a few moments ago. She held her breath as she tended to do whenever she listened to a heartbeat and the resulting silence in the emergency room corner was deafening. Erica only took a breath again as she finished and took a couple steps back from Marsh. She took a deep breath actually as she regained her presence of mind.

"Ok, so you do seem to have an irregular heartbeat, but it doesn't sound like anything more serious than that. I'm going to prescribe something for the meantime and refer you to a regular cardiologist for a follow up. I can give you the name of someone in Baltimore if you want someone close to home."

"Well, I suppose that sounds like ok news, but I actually live here in DC." She responded to the question in Erica's eyes, "I was up at Hopkins stealing equipment in one of those pretty new labs. Well, not stealing, just taking advantage of fancy stuff we don't have down here at U. of Maryland."

"Ah, do you teach there?" Erica asked as she wrote out the prescription.

"I only teach one class a semester these days. I spend most of my time on research, aquatic insects in the Chesapeake!" she exclaimed with a sense of pride and exuberance that made Erica laugh out loud.

"So . . . you study . . . bugs and stuff, nice."

"I'm going to let that slide since you just told me that my heart isn't going to explode or anything, but us doctors of entomology get pretty offended when you call them 'bugs and stuff'," Marsh replied in a mocking tone. She added, "Dr. I cut people open all day and like being covered in blood and guts."

"Fair enough, Marica, uh, Marsh," Erica said, enjoying the banter more than she usually did with a complete stranger. Well, not completely now. "Here is your prescription, one a day until you follow up with the cardiologist. And here is the name of a colleague of mine right here in DC."

"Thanks Dr. Hahn," the younger woman replied earnestly, taking the papers from Erica's hand.

"Call me Erica," she said without thinking. _Where did that come from_, Erica thought. She never used her first name with patients. It was one of those primary rules that helped establish that distance she strove so efficiently for. "Umm, ortho should be down in just a minute."

She clicked her pen shut and put it back in her lapel pocket. She didn't move right away, taking one last look at the woman in front of her, large mess of curls and fly-aways falling past her shoulders, tanned skin disappearing behind a tight tank top, lean arms laying quietly in her lap.

"Sure, Erica," Marsh said, now just as nervous sounding as Erica had felt minutes before. "Uh, thanks, and uh . . . thanks."

Erica smiled again, taking a few steps backwards, before turning around and walking back toward the reception area. She narrowly missed hitting an instrument tray on her way over, but not before Kate had arrived to witness the tail end of the awkward situation.

"What the hell is wrong with you, Erica." Kate said with large eyes.

"Nothing," Erica grumbled.

"Nothing, as in that cute brunette definitely not staring at you from across the room nothing?"

Erica mumbled something while trying to discreetly and professionally glance across her shoulder. She decided she could not do this without being obvious, so she instead looked back at Kate and whispered something under her breath.

"What was that Mumbles?"

"I said that's the woman from yesterday. The one I was telling you about," Erica exclaimed.

"Ah, the sexy little number that you ran away from? Nice. So now I can expect that you have a name, number and a date?" Kate asked, but with a caring tone. She did like pushing Erica's buttons, but she also knew the blonde was sensitive about dating, and the new idea of dating women. And while she loved having fun with the surgeon, who could indeed give it right back to her, she hardly wanted to actually hurt Erica.

"No," Erica said simply, sounding defeated. "Ugh, I am Erica Hahn! Why on earth is this so hard? Forget it, I'm going to go back over there and just - " She turned around just in time to see that someone must have come down to take Marsh to radiology. "Damnit," she interjected just loud enough for some of the ER staff to take notice.

"Oh E, don't worry your sexy little ass. This isn't over." And with that both of their pagers sounded, beckoning them back to their respective wings of Georgetown. "Ok, well it is for now, but we'll talk later. And stalk. Talk and stalk!"

Erica sighed heavily, "Later Kate. Oh and by the way, my first class is tomorrow, so I probably won't see you until after the weekend."

"Oh but you'll see me later. Cause we need to charm your hot little broken armed ER lady!" Kate said mischievously.

"Give it a rest. I'm a big girl, I can handle my life on my own, thank you."

"Uh huh, that's why you're still single, going home alone, using your - "

"OK! And that is quite enough. I will see you soon. Whether I like it or not apparently."

"Bye Erica."

"Bye Kate."

* * *

Erica walked into the small lecture hall and saw that about half of the 50 or so seats were already filled by young men and women already pulling out notebooks, recorders and laptops. She placed her own Macbook on the large desk in the front of the room and began to pull up her first lecture. She knew the students were watching her, waiting for her to begin, but she took her time getting ready, organizing herself.

She had taught before. All the hospitals she'd ever worked at were, ironically enough, teaching hospitals and thus she was not unfamiliar with demonstrative explanations nor with asking and fielding questions. She also had plenty of experience giving presentations. At 41, she was working on her third major area of research, having published a myriad of papers, both independently and collaboratively. And for each new breakthrough and especially each new method she developed, there was a subsequent period of talks and lectures to explain the work. As she had once told Cristina Yang, the Socratic method was the backbone of conventional medical education; questions on the heels of recitation were not new to Erica Hahn.

However, this was different. This was yet another new experience to add to the general atmosphere of the unfamiliar that had blanketed Erica's life over the past year. This was the first time her primary job was to be a teacher. Not a surgeon or researcher teaching, but an instructor primarily. But she was Erica Hahn. She could handle nearly anything professionally, and this was no different. She was confident, she was cool, Erica rarely even got nervous – a waste of energy she thought. What Erica Hahn did, she did well. And this project would be no exception.

She looked up and saw that the majority of students had arrived and were settled. She caught the sight of Bree in the second row and politely nodded, not wanting to throw too many smiles around on the first day lest the students think she was soft. Respect came first; they had to respect her before they could learn anything from her.

"Ok everyone, what do you say we get started?" She addressed the room, "My name is Dr. Erica Hahn. I know you were expecting Dr. Greenfield, but there has been a change and I'll be teaching this seminar in cardiothoracics. I am the head of cardiothoracic surgery at Georgetown but I've also worked here at Hopkins and out in Seattle. I'm pretty much the best out there so if you pay attention you might actually learn something useful this summer."

She smiled just a bit, wanting to convey confidence, not a God complex. "We'll start with a basic review of cardiothoracic anatomy, move on to some simple cardio procedures and surgeries and we'll finish the course with a look at what's going on in current research."

She began her first lecture with some photos from surgery, showing them traumas, abnormalities and repaired hearts. By watching their faces, she immediately began to discern those students which had enough fortitude for surgery in contrast to those who might have a future hooking people up to EEGs. She spoke for a while, let them ask the standard series of questions, and cracked a few jokes. Even she was impressed with how well the evening went and how much she actually enjoyed watching their faces. _Although, how many of them will crack before their internships are even over_, she wondered.

"Ok, it's up to you to read what you want to read, I just expect you to be ready to participate in the next lecture. But for a fun assignment, I want you each to pick a discovery in the history of cardiology that you find interesting and write me 500 words about why. Whoever I think has the most intelligent response will get a chance to scrub in with me and observe a surgery down at Georgetown. Alright, have a good weekend."

The students began to shuffle out as Erica packed up her stuff. Bree walked past Erica on her way out.

"That was terrible, Dr. Hahn." A few students in the vicinity cringed, wondering where this girl was getting off talking to a cardio god like that.

"Excuse me?" was the reply.

"I'm kidding, this is really interesting stuff."

"First, cardio is not stuff. Second, you have quite the attitude on you, and you're not even a doctor yet," Erica remarked, wanting to let Bree know off the bat that she wouldn't stand for a relationship that was too casual between them.

"It's the Latina in me, I can't help it," she said, throwing up her hands.

Erica cringed, an old memory suddenly flooding through her system. On nights like these, she felt so far away from her life at Seattle Grace, from the person she was there. But her past remained, even clear across the country. This girl, here and now, was causing Erica to think things, feel things that she hadn't in a long time now. And that she realized, was a good thing. It would take time, she could still feel that, but she was slowly moving on.

Bree sensed her new instructor's hesitation and sudden distance and assumed she had taken their connection too far. "I'm sorry Dr. Hahn, I didn't mean . . ." she stuttered and paused for a second, "But I did want to thank you for my dad. He's doing well, and my mom's pretty happy. So thanks."

"You're welcome," Erica snapped out of it, "Write something good for me and maybe you can come watch an angioplasty of your own," she added, smiling just a bit at the girl, who despite looks, she had to remember, was not Callie and should not be penalized for anything that had happened to Erica in the past.

"Well, duh, I figure I'll just pick one of your amazing methods and then I'm a shoo in, right?" she laughed.

"You're an ass and you're going to make a cocky doctor. But yeah, pretty much."

"Night, Dr. Hahn."

"Night, Bree."

* * *

"No, you're just plain wrong, that's all there is to it," Dr. Sydney Dylan exclaimed.

"Uh uh, I'm completely right. Trust me, I know these things," Dr. Jake Dillinger replied back, animatedly, leaning back in the chair in the resident's lounge.

"You know nothing about women, Jake. Especially this," she argued, finally putting her glasses down on the journal article she was reading, admitting she would not get to finishing it right now.

"Hey, just because you're a prude and have never tried - "

"Um, not trying that does not make me prude. It makes me - " they kept interrupting each other.

"I bet you fifty dollars I'm right," Jake said defiantly, his good looking smile tilting upward.

"Um, how would we even begin to figure that out," Sydney said skeptically, adding, "In, ya know, a scientific, documentable kind of way?"

"Well," he said, laughing a bit, "we could always just ask Hahn?"

"Ask Hahn what, may I ask?" Erica walked into the room and addressed the two residents, standing over them at their table.

"Uh, nothing Dr. Hahn, it was stupid," Jake said sheepishly, a pretty big grin still playing across his features.

"So now I'm an expert on stupid things, am I?" Erica asked as she opened her yogurt and sat down briefly.

"No. We just meant . . . we were having a stupid argument," Sydney explained, "And it doesn't matter, because I'm still right!"

"Ok, you two are the Double D's. Which means this argument could only be about one of three things. Jackie Chan movies, the best place to get a burrito in this town, or doing the McNasty. And frankly, I didn't come here to talk to you about any of those things."

"Um Erica?," Sydney addressed the surgeon by her first name, looking quite curious, if hesitant. Erica nodded at her as if to continue; if Sydney was going to use her first name, she better have something good to say. "The McNasty?"

She and Jake exploded into laughter. They knew Dr. Hahn was serious 90% of the time, inside of the OR and out. They respected her and because she taught them, they had learned to work with her tough, demanding personality. There were days that tried them as residents, days when they didn't know if cardio was worth it. She demanded their full focus, their unwavering commitment, and a work ethic that they were both still slowly building up. But they knew it would be worth it. And, because, for 10% of the time, Erica allowed herself to relax, to joke, to connect, to be an actual human being. These moments were the most glorious to them, allowing their mentor to become accessible as a woman. It helped them to realize exactly what it would take to be cardio gods one day, but that there was hope in retaining a sense of self even at the highest level.

Erica thought about what explanation she could offer the Double D's to explain the McNames of Seattle Grace, but then thought against it. "When you two pass your boards next year, you can buy me drinks because I've been so good to you. And maybe then, I'll tell you that story.

"But I actually took time out of my busy day to tell you two something." They looked on eagerly, hoping for a bloody surgery. "The Annual Conference of Cardiothroacics is coming up in a few months and I've been told by the chief that I can bring one of you. You'll be helping me make the keynote presentation and then you'll be free to learn all your little heart desires," she joked. "I have to decide which one of you gets to go, so I'll be watching you for the next couple of months. I want to see initiative, I want to see critical thinking. I want one of you to start looking like a real surgeon."

Sydney and Jake stared back and forth between each other and Erica, excited scowls plaguing their faces. Sydney nodded, her brain already making a list of surgeries to get in on, procedures to learn. Jake squinted and thought of how he could best impress Erica in the next two months to make her love him.

"Awesome Dr. Hahn, I'm already looking forward to going with you," Jake said proudly, standing up and stretching.

"Yeah right, I'm already miles ahead of you," Sydney retorted.

"Yeah, but Erica likes me better."

"Um, yeah, no. She obviously loves me mo - "

"Enough you two," Erica said, standing up and beginning to walk out the door. "Show me in the OR. I'll see you later."

"I'm going."

"You are not. I'm going!"

"Nope, it's gonna be me."

Erica walked out the door, shaking her head to herself but laughing only when she was past the window of the lounge. She had spoken to the chief earlier that day, but in doing so, had demanded that she be able to take both of her top residents. The chief here loved Erica and was usually to happy to do anything in his power to keep her happy. Thus, she already knew she had permission to bring Dylan and Dillinger, but she couldn't resist playing with them a little bit.

In all honesty, she knew they would both make good surgeons after their boards next year. But she wanted them to be great. They were under her mentorship right now, and Erica wanted to make sure that anyone who reflected on her, did so in the godlike manner she had come to be very familiar with. With less than a year left to groom them, Erica thought this would be a good opportunity to really push them, see what they were capable of on their own. Sure it was a little cruel, but since when did Erica play fair.

* * *

Dr. Kate Robinson watched as her patient was wheeled out of the ER, up to ultrasound. There had been a car accident, seven patients, four under ten years old. She and her staff had been running around for the past three hours triaging, suturing, stabilizing. This was the last of the patients she had seen, a nine-year-old boy who, at the end of all this, was only going to need his spleen removed. Not bad considering some of the other patients she had seen today. No one died, but Kate still had two surgeries to scrub in on, and she was already exhausted.

Alright, rally time, she thought as she finished some last minute notes on a chart. Walking toward the elevator, she caught sight of a certain brunette she had taken notice of in the ER the week before. She seemed to be looking around for someone to help her, but people often got left behind in the ER during a trauma.

"Hi, can I help you with something," Kate asked, turning on ask much charm as she could muster, wanting to appear sweet and innocent to this crush of Erica's.

"Uh, yes. I was looking for another doctor here, Erica Hahn?" Marsh said, a little nervous, but more calm and collected than she had been the day she was injured in the ER.

"Sure, did you have a follow up with her?" Kate asked, pretending she was none the wiser, "I thought I remembered you being in here last week."

"Yeah, I did have a follow up today, but with ortho," she paused, not knowing what kind of reason she should give for wanting to see the blonde surgeon again. Aside from the fact that she simply wanted to see her again. She had hoped to maybe just run in to the woman while she was at the hospital, but as she had her arm rechecked by the orthopedic surgeon, she realized that Erica was probably busy in some important surgery or meeting. Or, hell, maybe she wasn't even here today. "But, Dr. Hahn did see me last week, and I just wanted to thank her."

Kate looked the brunette up and down, approving of her slightly nervous nature. "Sure, she's probably up in the cardio wing, but I can have her paged. Just a second."

"Oh, I don't want to be too much trouble."

"Oh not at all, you'll probably be saving her from some terribly boring meeting," Kate laughed as she paged Erica 911 down to the ER. She may be a big girl, but Kate didn't see anything wrong with jump starting her friend's love life just a little.

"Ok, I know you guys are all busy here, with surgeries and doctor things. I mean I know how busy I get on campus, I usually just tell visitors to go away. Unless it's a student, I usually try pretty hard to see all my students. But some days just get away from you and - "

"Hey," Kate interjected, effectively halting the rant. "Relax, she likes you too."

Marsh looked up, slightly taken back but a little relieved at the same time. "I'm sorry?"

"Dr. Kate Robinson," she offered, "I'm one of Erica's best friends. She'll be happy to see you, trust me." She smiled warmly at the woman, instantly watching her ease up.

"Well, that's good to hear. I thought there was something there last week, but then she kind of ran away. I mean, it's been a little while since I've been out there reading signals, but I used to be pretty good with it. And I definitely thought she was - "

"Do you always talk this much?" Kate asked, these rants seriously affecting her first impression of this woman.

"Only when I'm nervous, I'm actually a pretty laid back person. I promise. I surf, I do yoga," Marsh laughed assuredly.

"Ok, good, just checking," Kate approved. "So you said you teach on campus? Where at?" Kate planned on learning as much as she could before Erica got downstairs.

"University of Maryland, Department of Entomology. I spend most of my time in the field actually, but I do still teach a class or two."

"Entomology. So . . . bugs and stuff," Kate said, not bothering to hide the disgust on her face.

"Ha. Well, you definitely are a friend of Dr. Hahn's. You doctors treat people for 'bugs' all the time and still have no appreciation for their awesomeness. Unfortunate," the brunette retorted. Kate noticed how much more relaxed she was talking about something familiar to her. Kate admitted that she was certainly pretty; she had a natural beauty that suggested she rarely had to wear makeup to look stunning. It was only late May, but the woman already sported a light tan, probably owing to her time spent working outdoors. She had fantastically curly hair that fell large around her face, past her shoulders and piercing hazel eyes. Kate thought to herself that if she ever decided to switch teams, this might just be the type of girl she'd go for.

At that moment, Erica came around the corner and took in the sight of Kate first and Marsh standing there next to her immediately after. She looked confused, excited and eager all at once. But as excited as she was to see Marsh again, the doctor inside of her was waiting to respond to an emergency.

"You paged me 911, Dr. Robinson?"

"Yes, Erica. You have a patient here that wanted to see you for a quick follow up," Kate smiled big.

Erica was quick and realized at once what her friend was up to. She immediately relented and figured she'd decide whether to fight or thank Kate later. "Hi Marsh, you feeling better?"

"Yes, definitely," Marsh replied, looking over at Kate. Erica followed and glared at her best friend.

"Alright, I have a splenectomy to get to. Nice meeting you, Marsh. Talk to you later, Erica," she winked at both of them, leaving Marsh surprised and Erica more than a little red. She walked away leaving the two women to talk.

"You don't have a cast," Erica noticed, reaching out absentmindedly to touch the brunette's arm. She pulled back quickly, not knowing what was really appropriate here, since she was no longer Erica's patients.

"Uh, yeah. Turns out I didn't actually break it. I actually came in today to get cleared by ortho to get back to work," she smiled. "So, all in all, not too bad."

"That's great," Erica smiled back. "Excited to get back to your bugs?" Erica joked. She didn't joke with people she didn't like and at that moment, she admitted to herself that despite not knowing the woman standing in front of her at all, she liked her. There was something about her that put Erica at ease, which surprised the blonde at the same time that it unnerved her.

"Hey, I'm a doctor too. You're gonna have to stop making fun of me," Marsh tried to say in her best serious tone, all of the sudden feeling more relaxed than she had just been with Kate. The blonde doctor did make her nervous, but it was a good nervous. It was an excited nervous. There was definitely something here, and she didn't even know Erica yet. She continued, "But yeah, I've been stuck inside, grading papers, advising my grad students. Although, that part hasn't been half bad. I have some brilliant students working in my lab right now. Naïve, but brilliant. I'm excited to finally be seeing what they're capable of."

"I know what you mean. I have a few residents here that I'm really trying to push right now," Erica said, laughing and looking around. "I actually have them working their asses off in a fake competition right now."

"What? That seems cruel."

"It's a long story - "

"Well, maybe you could tell me that long story over dinner?" Marsh jumped in and asked.

Erica looked at the woman honestly. She had sort of been expecting this when she saw Marsh standing here in the ER. But as she heard the words, part of her panicked. She thought back to the day she had asked Callie on their first date. She thought about the nine months she spent alone since leaving Seattle. All at once, she was nervous and she began looking everywhere but at the woman in front of her.

"Hey, Erica. It's just dinner," she reached out and grabbed Erica's hand. "I like you and I know we don't know each other that well yet, but I haven't liked someone enough to ask them on a date in a while. So I say you appreciate the fact that I came back here, had you paged, endured your crazy friend, and let me take you to dinner."

The last time Erica had taken a leap, it had ended poorly. It had ended terribly. But this was a new hospital, a new city, a new phase for Erica Hahn. She looked down at Marsh's hand on her arm and took a deep breath.

"That sounds really nice, Marsh. Let's do it."

"Great, Friday night, 8?"

"That works. I have an early day, and I'm off on Saturday."

"Great, where do you live?"

"Woodly Park," Erica replied. She gave her the address.

"Alright, Dr. Hahn. I will see you then. For now, I'm off to play with some bugs!"

Erica watched Marsh walk out the hospital entrance and realized too late that she was smiling a huge smile while half the ER staff looked on. It wasn't that she just agreed to a date with a woman. She was out at the hospital, and so far she hadn't run into any issues with it. In fact, a few of the doctors and nurses had been extremely welcoming and supportive, telling her stories about their partners or family members. No, they were watching her right now because she was grinning like a schoolgirl and probably as red as her scrubs. And as she kept smiling, she realized, she didn't care.


	4. Chapter 4

**Title: Heart Bugs - Chapter Four**

**Pairing: Erica/OC**

**Rating: PG-13 for now, will jump to R/NC-17 later**

**Summary: A first date. And then a second one!  
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**Disclaimer: I do not own Grey's Anatomy, nor any of the characters in it. Everything in this story is fictional and I am not making a profit from this.**

**A/N: Trudging along. This chapter ended up super long, but I think that's just the way I write. Thanks to the people that have commented so far, it's fun hearing what you guys think.  
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Erica found herself standing in front of her closet for the second time in as many weeks, unable to decide on an appropriate outfit. She popped an antacid as she thought to herself that all of this socializing was really rather nerve wracking. She wasn't the type to try on thirty outfits, or make piles of yeses, nos and maybes. She simply stood in front of her closet, eyeing different shirts and dresses, weighing the merits of each one and beginning the process all over again when she had mentally accounted for her entire wardrobe.

_I really should have asked where we were going tonight, _Erica thought_. I don't want to overdress, but there are some pretty nice restaurants in this city. _

After an hour or so in her bedroom, Erica had settled on khakis and a deep royal cotton top that Kate had picked out for her. Even in May, it was beginning to get warm in DC and Erica figured she might as well be comfortably dressed since she was already nervous about everything else. She let her hair fall in loose curls, figuring the humidity would wreak havoc on straightened hair anyway. Erica Hahn was logical through and through, even down to the details of a first date look.

She found herself wandering from her kitchen, where she grabbed a glass of water, to her living room where she tried and failed to read a magazine article. For ten minutes she simply paced up and down her hallways, not doing anything in particular. She unconsciously chastised herself for getting ready too early and therefore giving herself too much time to think. She thought about the time she had spent in that one restaurant in Seattle waiting for her Callie on her first date. That night she had been nervous. Everything had been new and the steps they were making had thrown Erica into a different world, headfirst. She had already moved on to her second glass of wine by the time Callie had even gotten there, and it was only when she realized that Callie was more nervous than she, did Erica relax that night.

Erica snapped back to the present as she ran her fingertip around the edge of her water glass. She was nervous again tonight, but for new reasons. Unlike Callie, whom she had developed a friendship with, she knew little about Marsh. And while getting to know new people always made Erica uncomfortable, there was something about this woman that immediately put the doctor at ease, even as it made her heart beat a little faster. This woman seemed calm, confident, solid. She seemed genuine and familiar in a way that Erica definitely didn't understand, since it usually took Erica a great deal of time to get to know someone.

She supposed it didn't hurt that she was also attracted to Marsh in a way that was easy to admit. She was just below Erica's height, lean and toned from head to toe. Erica thought about the way she worked outside and how it probably kept her in shape. She wondered if she did anything else, like running or biking. As a heart specialist, Erica knew she should be spending more time working out herself, but with a schedule like hers, she was usually content to maintain her heart health with a strict diet. As Erica's mind began to wonder what Marsh would look like in running shorts, she heard a knock on her door.

"Hi," Marsh greeted Erica as she stood on her front porch, smiling widely at the blonde. She wore simple, loose khakis that fell just below her knee, brown sandals and a brown tank top. It was simple and fit her. Her curly hair, which Erica had really only seen in an unruly state up until then, was calmed down into soft, loose curls. Marsh had on silver jewelry, including a necklace interesting enough to make Erica make a mental note to ask about it later.

"Marsh, hi. Let me just grab my bag and we can go," Erica replied, hoping she wasn't red from the wandering thoughts she was just experiencing.

"Sure."

Erica locked her door and the two women began walking down the sidewalk together. They got halfway down the street when Erica realized they were not walking toward a car.

"Wait, how did you get here?" Erica asked.

Marsh chuckled, "I walked over, we live in the same neighborhood actually."

"Oh, well that's lucky, I suppose," Erica considered.

"I think so." Marsh looked over and caught Erica's eyes this time. The two women shared a glance and reactively smiled. Marsh had actually been quite delighted to learn that Erica lived only a few blocks away. While she was still a scientist and by no means an overly spiritual person, she did tend to believe that things happen for a reason, and couldn't help thinking that about Erica. "I'm actually a few blocks back in the other direction, toward the zoo. Have you been there yet?"

"I haven't. Actually, there's a lot I haven't done here yet in DC."

"Well, we're definitely going to have fix that. The pandas are probably the best thing about this city. And the elephants. And the giraffes!" She paused, not wanting to scare Erica off this early in the evening. "Sorry, I'm kind of an animal nerd."

Erica was laughing, "Not at all. I'm sure I would love it. My mom used to bring my brother and I to the zoo as kids. Those are some of my best memories of the three of us."

"Great, so the zoo will be lesson number two in neighborhood appreciation. And this will be the first." Marsh stopped and gestured to a small restaurant right in front of them. Erica hadn't even realized where they had been walking, but it couldn't have been more than a half mile from her house.

"Wow, I've never even noticed this before."

"Well, I love it and hopefully you will too."

They sat at a small table by the window. Erica kept watching as people walked past on the late afternoon sidewalk. There were families, couples, runners, dog walkers and everywhere in between. Marsh kept watching Erica's face as she stared out the window. There was something about the blonde that she couldn't place her finger on, but that she was already drawn to. Something about the way the very simple seemed to intrigue her. The way little things could affect her. Marsh could already tell she was strong, confident. She knew enough academics with type A personality to recognize it, but she also saw that Erica had a lot below the surface. She saw flashes of this softness burst through at various times like these, when Erica was doing little more than people watching.

Erica turned back to her date to realize she was being stared at. "Sorry, I seem to be spacing out. It's been a long week," Erica apologized sheepishly, embarrassed to know that Marsh had been watching her so intensely.

"Don't be. It's cute."

"Cute?" Erica used her trademark Hahn raise of the eyebrows to hopefully intimidate the brunette. "I'm pretty sure I haven't been called cute in years."

"Well too bad. You're cute, deal with it," Marsh challenged right off the bat.

The server came and took their drink orders, some brown ale for Marsh, who ordered like she came here often, and obviously a glass of red wine for Erica.

"So you're a wino, are you?"

"Maybe, what's wrong with that?"

"Nothing," Marsh laughed, "But are you one of those people who actually knows your wines, because I have to admit, my knowledge covers the difference between red and white and that's about it."

"I know enough," Erica contemplated, "to make it through a wine tasting and look like I've been around the block. But I certainly wouldn't call myself a wino as you so eloquently put it."

"That was a term of endearment, I promise. I went to Napa a few years back with a couple friends of mine, and man did we have fun, but I think it's safe to say I learned nothing. Except how to drunkenly talk my way out of a farmer calling the police after catching me picking grapes in his field." Marsh looked into the distance, recalling the memory with a fairly proud look on her face. She caught herself, "Not that I make it a habit of trespassing. Or stealing. I'm actually a pretty decent person, I swear."

Erica's eyes were wide with amusement as she listened to the younger woman ramble. "It's ok, Marsh. I believe that you're more than a 'decent person,'" Erica assured. "Plus, everyone has a few of those crazy stories, right?"

"Well, I don't know Dr. Hahn. What are your crazy stories?"

Erica stared at Marsh for a beat, looking into her eyes. Here she was on a first date, already talking crazy stories, of which Erica certainly had a few, but also which she rarely shared with many people. There was something behind Marsh's eyes that made Erica want to tell her stories, to talk about herself, to share it all. And that, Erica realized, scared her more than a little bit.

"Patience is a virtue. I don't give up all my good stuff that easily."

"Ah, I knew you were a tease."

Erica blushed, but was spared the rest of their teasing conversation by their server's arrival to take their orders. They ate and made small talk. Marsh told Erica about some other great little spots in their neighborhood, Erica making a mental note to do some more exploring now that it was nice out. The talk came easily and comfortably. There was a definite electricity to the evening, but the two women embraced it, alternating between sharing, eating and laughing.

"So I have to ask," Erica began, "and I ask out of sheer curiosity, with no implied judgment," she added. "Why entomology? Why bugs?"

"No judgment, sure," Marsh questioned, but continued, "It definitely wasn't my first choice. I studied straight biology way back when. After college, I traveled to Africa because I really didn't know what I wanted to do with my life. I ended up connecting with a researcher studying malaria over there, fell in love with the science of insects and the rest is history. My work now is all about conservation and cleaning up the Chesapeake. It's," she searched for the right words, "satisfying."

"I know what you mean. I love being able to do something where I make a difference. As clichéd as that sounds."

"Yeah, I'm finishing up a three year project right now. Mostly putting the final touches on my analysis. With any luck, I should have a publishable paper in a couple of months!"

"That's excellent. Although, personally, I hate that whole period of submitting to journals and rewriting and whatnot. I'd rather just be doing surgeries, but it's part of the game."

"A game you're certainly at the top of, I hear," Marsh said.

Erica raised her eyebrows again. She was proud of her reputation, and usually the first to boast that she was at the very top of her already elite field. However, in this moment, Erica found herself wanting to be modest. Proud, but modest.

"I'm a researcher. I obviously googled you," she laughed, adding, "I hope that's ok, and not too creepy. I mean, I just wanted to see what kinds of cool doctor things you did. I wasn't out searching for personal information, because that would be weird. It was just a quick search and scan and - "

"Do you always ramble when you're nervous?"

"Yes! See, you already understand me," Marsh laughed out loud, and Erica soon followed. "So anyway," she drew out the word, trying to move on from the little bit of awkwardness that she actually expected more of on a first date. "You mentioned the other day that you were making two of your students battle in a fake competition?"

Erica finished the wine in her glass as she nodded. "I am, but I swear I'm not that evil. The annual cardiothoracics conference is coming up in a few months and I'm bringing both of them, but they don't know that yet. I told them I'd pick the best surgeon after a couple of months."

"Not evil, sure . . ." Marsh joked.

"These two are talented, they'll make great surgeons one day. I'm just trying to push them. See what they're really capable of," Erica defended. "Don't worry, I'll end it before they start going too crazy," she added with a smirk.

"No, I know what it's like. I feel the same way about the grad students in my lab. They're not technically mine, we have another director who is their actual advisor, but I work with them on a regular basis. They're talented kids," she said fondly. "So, are these conferences fun?"

"Oh god no. They're usually terrible and boring and full of surgeons with huge egos trying to brag about their accomplishments," Erica answered. "But . . . I'm the keynote speaker this year, and it'll be the first one for my residents."

"Ooh, keynote. Impressive Dr. Hahn. Is it here in DC?"

"No, actually this year it's in Las Vegas."

Marsh lit up, impressed, "Vegas! That sounds fun. Have you ever been?"

"Once, right after med school. A friend that I graduated with had an uncle who owned a casino. He paid for us all to go out there and stay for a week. It was," Erica paused, "One of those crazy stories."

"Oh come on, spill. I told you about my shenanigans with friends. It's only fair." She crossed her arms in front of her chest, not willing to take no from the blonde.

Erica hesitated but then took a deep breath and began. "Ok, well one night the guys we were with, including my boyfriend at the time, thought we needed to go to a strip club to complete our Vegas experience. I, of course, had never been before. It was crazy . . . just . . . girls everywhere. I eventually drank enough to feel comfortable, but then my one friend, Chris, decided to buy me a lapdance without me knowing. And all of the sudden, there was this woman just about on top of me, shaking things, doing things. I was so embarrassed, I ran out. They never let me live it down."

Marsh was smiling wide as Erica finished her story. "I'll say it again, that was cute."

"Cute? Cute is definitely not the word I would use to describe that night of my life."

"Well, the way you told the story was cute at least." At this point, Marsh reached out and placed her hand on top of Erica's, which had been resting on the small table. "So you said boyfriend, you weren't out yet in college?"

Erica tensed up immediately and pulled her hand back in response. "Um . . . so I guess this is the point in the date where I tell you that I'm pretty new to this."

Marsh scrutinized the woman in front of her, not quite believing that Erica hadn't been out years. She seemed confident, but at once, Marsh realized that this was one of the insecurities that she had seen in pieces so far from Erica.

"How new?" she pressed.

"Well . . . I've only really been with one woman . . . And that wasn't even a year ago." She paused, but couldn't quite find the words to finish her explanation. "I don't know . . . unless you're not ok with it, it's probably terrible first date conversation."

Marsh realized that Erica was becoming flustered and unnerved. "Hey, it's ok." She reached out and grabbed her hand again, this time not letting go. "I don't have a problem with it at all. And, as far as first date revelations go, I should probably tell you that it's been a while since I've dated _anyone_, actually."

"Really?" Erica asked, wondering how a woman like Marsh remained single.

"Yeah, it's been . . . almost five years now," Marsh admitted, not letting the surprise or question in Erica's eyes go unnoticed. She continued, "Also a long story and definitely not first date appropriate."

Erica let herself relax, looking at Marsh and feeling her hand on her own. This woman was not trying to push anything, own anything, or pretend at all. She was being honest and slow, she was letting Erica be exactly who she needed to be. And it wasn't out of delicacy to Erica's persona, it just was who she was. Which, Erica realized, as her thumb began tracing patterns over Marsh's hand, she already liked.

The two women paid their bill, Erica not allowing Marsh to pay for the entire meal. They began walking down the street again, with Erica thinking they were taking a different way home, although she couldn't be quite sure since she had not really been paying attention on the walk there. She realized how unusual this all was for her. Not the first date in general, or the fact that it was a date with a woman. After Callie, she had accepted the epiphany rather easily; she was Erica Hahn, and whatever she did, she did all the way, headfirst, and with little doubt. No, it was the fact that she had let someone else lead tonight. And while it was simple enough, Erica knew it already meant something, that she would let another person, this person, Marsh, take over some of the control.

They walked together, more than relaxed, enjoying the setting sun to their west. It was a perfect spring evening in DC and both women were smiling. Marsh kept feeling Erica's hand brush up against hers, wondering if it was accidental, since she suspected the blonde's vocabulary didn't include the word accidental. She smiled as they walked past different kinds of people, some of them checking out the two women. Marsh wondered if Erica knew they were being noticed, a little worried that it might make her nervous. But if she did catch the glances, most of which were good, she didn't seem to care anyway. The surgeon seemed at ease, and Marsh already appreciated that Erica was being herself, allowing herself to open up and share some of that softness that Marsh already knew was hidden under a tough gal professional skin.

Marsh decided to take a chance and as they were walking past a large, old hotel with expansive gardens all around it, she grabbed Erica's hand and pulled her off the street. She started to guide her toward the back of the hotel, where the gardens were even more expansive and in full bloom, owing to the late spring month.

"Hey, where are we - "

"Just come here," Marsh demanded as she finally led Erica to where she wanted. They stood at the back of the gardens, where there was nearly an orchard of cherry blossoms all surrounding a decent sized pond. There were benches and small paths throughout the grounds, and Erica immediately wondered how a property this size remained in a neighborhood like this. It was gorgeous though, and Marsh knew Erica felt the same way as she looked all around.

"Wow, this is beautiful. I never knew this was back here." Erica exclaimed.

"Yeah, this is one of the hotels the White House uses when they want to impress people who are visiting. After the scientist I worked with in Africa completed this big study on malaria, the president at the time flew him in to award him a new grant and he stayed here, along with one of the African presidents. Now I come here all the time, it's a good place to sit and think."

Erica's face showed she was impressed as she realized that entomology did have its perks.

"It's really . . . "

Marsh cut Erica off mid-thought as she grabbed the blonde's waist and pulled her into a kiss. It was incredibly soft and for a few moments, the only feelings Erica could register were the softness of Marsh's lips, the feeling of her hands at her sides, and the smell of her gentle perfume mixed with the flowers in the garden. Erica reciprocated, letting her hand come up and sit on the brunette's hip. It was relatively short and innocent, but it was perfect.

They broke and Marsh grabbed Erica's hand, leading her out onto the street again. They didn't say anything again as they walked back to Erica's house, they didn't have to, and Erica realized how much she enjoyed the silence with this woman. She also realized she probably had a pretty big smile on her face as she noticed Marsh kept stealing glances her way. As they arrived at Erica's front porch, their peaceful moment was interrupted by a loud vibration. As Erica reached into her purse for her pager, she realized that it had been Marsh's cell phone instead. Secretly happy she did not have to go into the hospital tonight, she frowned as she saw Marsh's face drop.

"Is everything ok?" Erica asked, genuinely concerned.

"Oh, yeah. My friend Laura is performing tomorrow and our other friend was supposed to come with me to opening night, but she just canceled, looks like her kid is sick."

"Oh, that's a shame," Erica replied.

"Hey, would you want to join me? I know this is only our first date and tomorrow is, well, tomorrow, but I had a good time tonight. I mean, that is if you don't have plans already, it is Saturday night and you probably have things to do, but Laura is pretty good and - "

This time it was Erica who leaned in and cut Marsh off with a kiss. She brought her hand up to Marsh's face and smiled as she realized how well this worked to cut off Marsh's nervous rambling.

"I'd love to go," Erica said confidently as she pulled back. "Turns out I do have some things to take care of at the hospital tomorrow, so maybe let me know when and where and I could meet you there?" she offered.

"Sure, I'll send you the address. I really did have a good time tonight, it felt nice to relax," Marsh said, blushing even as she was reaching out to grab Erica's hand.

"Me too, surprisingly," Erica said honestly.

"Oh really? Thought I'd be boring or something," Marsh asked, a little surprised herself.

"No no," Erica turned a little red. "That's not what I meant. I'm . . . not usually good at this stuff, dating stuff." She regained her composure. "But this was nice. And I'm looking forward to tomorrow," she added.

"Good, well, I'll see you tomorrow." She walked down toward the sidewalk, dropping Erica's hand at the last moment she could. She turned back a few steps later and said, "Oh and Erica, I think you're pretty good at this _dating stuff_."

* * *

"So have you guys moved in together yet?" Kate said as she entered the Erica's office, where she was finishing up some paperwork Saturday afternoon.

"Excuse me?" she greeted her friend.

"Oh come on, isn't that what you people do?" Kate fell into one of the comfortable chairs in front of Erica's desk. She often came in here and complained about not having her own office, to which Erica always replied that she would get one when she was she was a big important head of a department.

"_You people_? Really, Kate?" Erica shook her head at Kate's lack of tact, thinking that if she didn't know the woman better, know that she had a huge heart, she would never give this surgeon the time of day. "And no, we're not moving anywhere. It was one date."

"Oh, I'm kidding, E. But how was it? I want all the dirty details!"

"No dirty details to be had. Not that I would tell you anyway. Just because you're married and have to get your kicks vicariously through friends - "

"Uh, my sex life is fantastic, thank you very much. Josh and I have ridiculous amounts of hot, hot sex. All the time," Kate tried to give Erica her best bedroom eyes, as Erica stared at the woman, unaffected. "But, seriously, how did it go?"

At this, Erica broke out into a slight smile. Kate reacted, "I knew it!"

"It went really well. We just had dinner, walked around, turns out she lives right near me, and talked. It was nice."

"But you two didn't rip each other's clothing off?" Kate looked genuinely disappointed.

"Uh, no," Erica said, shutting her down. She added softly, "There was some kissing, but that was it."

"Oh, Erica, always so wild. At this rate, maybe we'll have some over the clothes fondling by Christmas time."

"You're terrible, Kate."

"No I'm not. You love me. So are you going to see her again," Kate asked. "Or were you all awkward at the end of the date and she ran away and now it's weird that you live so close."

"No, you really are an ass. But we're going out tonight, actually," Erica said, smiling despite herself. She really was looking forward to tonight, the balance of nerves and excitement tilting even more toward the latter in expectation of their second date.

"Oh wow, that's quick. You must really like her. It took you months to be able to stand me for two days in a row."

"I mean, this is only a second date. I don't want to get my hopes up or anything, but yeah, I do like her. She seems . . . sane," she considered her words, "Wow, did I just get excited about this woman not being crazy?" She laughed. "I guess it really has been a while."

"Hey, it's ok to get your hopes up, Erica. You deserve it. And you deserve and nice, sane girl, even if she does ramble a lot and refuses to take her clothes off on a first date."

"Thanks, I think. And I consider the clothing staying on to be a good thing."

"Aw, how cute. Ok, as much as I love discussing your non-love life, I actually came up here to tell you my brother and James are having their restaurant party next weekend. And they're demanding that you come. Of course, they still want to set you up with one of their friends, but I imagine you could bring Rambles. That's what I'm gonna call you guys, Rambles and Mumbles."

"Why am I friends with you again?"

"Because I'm the only surgeon in this hospital that will put up with you. And because you love me," Kate smirked at Erica as she got up and stretched. She ran a hand through her short blond hair and continued, "So next Sunday, 9 o'clock, you're coming."

"I'll have to recheck my schedule here, but yeah, why not." Erica smiled up at Kate, unconsciously thankful for the smaller blonde. She had really been a big part of making this city a home in the past year. She was crass, over the top and brutally honest but for some reason, with Erica, it worked.

As Kate grabbed the door handle to leave, she turned quickly and said, "And Erica, I really am happy for you, ya know."

"Thanks, Kate," Erica replied. Kate nodded and left, leaving Erica to finish her remaining work and think about her second date with a certain cute brunette.

* * *

Erica and Marsh were standing at a high table in the lobby of a small theater in U St. neighborhood of the city. They were each enjoying a glass of wine, chosen by Erica as a mini lesson in the libation, before the doors to the theater opened. Erica had spent slightly less time picking out a wardrobe tonight, but was glad she dressed up after seeing Marsh in a skirt and blouse. As people started filtering in to the waiting space, Erica noticed the diversity in the room. She had already learned that she was about to see a small string ensemble performance, which was pleasant to learn after Erica realized that she had agreed to tonight's date without knowing exactly what they were attending.

"So then, how do you know Laura?" Erica asked, sipping on her wine, again in wonder of how easily the talk came with the brunette.

"We met in college, we were actually in orchestra together."

"What do you play?"

"Piano. I've played since I was three, my mother was a music teacher," she paused just a moment. "You know, most people actually ask if I play right off the bat."

"Really?" Erica was confused.

"My last name," Marsh said, continuing on after noticing the blank look in Erica's eyes, "Stravinsky? The Russian composer? No?"

"Sorry, I never quite got into music. I was forced to play the flute for a year in grade school, but I was so atrocious my mother let me quit. Only thing I've ever quit to this day," Erica laughed. "So then, is there a relation?" Erica asked, actually intrigued.

"No, actually. My background is Eastern European and Italian, not Russian. But sometimes I'll lie to people, especially snoody people in the music world," Marsh revealed.

"So let's see, you lie, you steal from innocent farmers, you stalk potential dates online . . . I don't know if I like the sound of this." Erica said, her Hahn eyebrows in full force.

"Hey!" Marsh went to swat Erica on the arm, but somehow it turned into her slowly dragging her fingers along Erica's arm, bare in the off the shoulder dress she was wearing. "I just happen to be very upfront about my weaknesses, but I still stand by the fact that I'm a decent person."

Erica smiled, more than a little thrown off by the minute amount of contact. "I'm kidding. And I think I want to hear you play sometime."

"Haha, yeah I don't get to play very often these days," she looked at Erica, eyes becoming darker and more suggestive, "but yeah, maybe."

Erica thought about listening to the brunette play and wondered if she had her own piano. Kate and Josh had a piano in their place, but it was more of a joke since neither they nor anyone they knew could play it. It had been inherited from Kate's aunt years ago, and she didn't have the heart to get rid of it. In thinking about Kate, she remembered her brother's restaurant.

"Hey, my friend Kate from the hospital," Erica said as Marsh nodded her remembrance of the woman. "Her brother opened up a restaurant in Dupont Circle recently and they're having a party to celebrate next weekend. Would you be interested in joining me?" Erica asked.

"Ooh, yeah, that sounds fun. And you are doing an awesome job filling in as my date tonight, so I'd be happy to reciprocate."

"Well, I'm already enjoying myself too much to consider this a favor," Erica smiled.

The doors to the theater opened up and slowly everyone began filing into the small theater. It was general admission, but Laura had reserved two seats for Kate up front and center. The performance was amazing, Erica had to admit. She was the first to admit that classical music stumped her, but this was different. It was smaller and more intimate than she thought a classical performance would be. The music went from lively to intense to bitingly sad and emotional.

Marsh pointed Laura out at the beginning. She was a small framed Asian woman, also in her late thirties, sitting behind a large cello. Erica found herself watching the woman throughout the line-up of songs. In the middle of a slow, drawn out part of a song perhaps twenty minutes into the concert, Erica felt Marsh's hand rest upon her own, along the armrest between them. She jumped a little at the contact, but after looking over at Marsh's small smile, she relaxed and the two women held hands for the remainder of the performance.

* * *

"So she teaches nine months out of the year, at a public school here in the city. It's a pretty tough school, and they've tried to cut the music program there a number of times, but she loves it and she's always pushing to keep it alive. I always tell her it's very Sister Act." Marsh and Erica are in the lobby again after the show, waiting for Laura to come out from backstage. "But writing is still her passion and this show has been her baby for months now. She wrote and arranged most of the music and spent a while pulling all these musicians together. I'm happy for her."

"That's amazing. I was impressed tonight, definitely not what I was expecting."

Marsh was just about to ask Erica what she had been expecting, when the doors opened and Laura emerged, rolling her giant instrument case behind her.

"Marsh!"

"Laura!"

The two women hugged as Marsh instantly began to tell her how proud she was of the amazing show.

"And this is Dr. Erica Hahn," Marsh said, using an extended hand to present her date to her old college friend. "Erica, this is Laura Chen."

"It's a pleasure," Laura said, instantly looking back at Marsh with wide, suggestive eyes. Marsh caught the look and just shook her head, as if to say don't, not here, not now.

"That was great, I was just telling Marsh how impressed I was. This isn't something I would end up seeing on my own." Erica said.

"Well thank you. I couldn't be more thrilled. I'm still on such a high."

"You kind of made me miss performing tonight," Marsh jumped in.

"Well, come to the afterparty and maybe you and one of my musicians can get together and plan your own comeback show."

"As fun as that sounds, I have to be out in the field tomorrow, so how about a raincheck. Maybe we could catch up some day this week," Marsh offered.

"That sounds great, I'll give you a call tomorrow." She turned toward Erica, "It was nice meeting you, Erica. You two have a good night."

During the ride back to their neighborhood, Erica became impressed with Marsh's driving ability in a city that, to her, was a nightmare to drive in. They wound their way through the neighborhood streets with ease, stealing quick glances at one another along the way. At this point, Erica was truly proud of herself, and not in the way that she usually was in the hospital, in the OR. She was taking a leap here, a second leap on this new adventure she had started with Callie so long ago. Part of her wanted to run, wanted to be alone. It was easier that way, but yet here she was on a second date in as many days with a woman. A woman whose company she was very much so enjoying.

They reached Erica's house and Erica was both relieved and nervous when Marsh automatically got out of the car too and followed her to her doorstep. Part of her was transported back to high school, when boys had awkwardly walked her home, neither of them knowing if a goodnight kiss was wanted or appropriate. But this time, there was no awkwardness, no fumbling small talk.

"I had fun tonight," Erica began, "I mean it, this isn't something I would normally do on my own. It was . . . refreshing."

"Good, I'm glad," Marsh replied, leaning in and wasting no time giving the blonde a goodnight kiss. The kiss was soft at first, both women delighting in the feeling of soft lips against soft lips. Then Erica leaned in slightly, adding pressure while cupping Marsh's face with her hand. Marsh's hands found their way to Erica's hair, bringing the blonde impossibly closer. Her tongue traced a light line along Erica's bottom lip, at which Erica opened her mouth, inviting the brunette in. There was a gentle politeness to their embrace coupled with a growing intensity. Marsh's hands began to travel across Erica's back as Erica used her tongue to pointedly explore Marsh's mouth.

The two women pulled back for a moment to catch some air, and Erica laughed as she timidly dropped her head against her chest. "Wow, I feel like a teenager, making out in front of my mom's house."

"I know. Isn't it fun?" Marsh challenged, completely honest. "Like we might get caught?"

"Well, if we stay out here long enough, we could get caught. By my neighbors," Erica laughed. "Or you could come in . . ." she offered.

This time Marsh blushed, turning her head. "I'm not sure, Erica - "

"Just for a drink, just for a little," Erica assured. "No funny business, I promise," she smirked.

Marsh relaxed and answered, "Sure."

They walked in and Marsh took in the atmosphere of Erica's home. It was warmly decorated, in jewel tones and with art that looked like it had been picked out specifically and with thought. It was neat and orderly, but then again, she expected that from a surgeon. She watched Erica disappear into what she assumed was the kitchen and return shortly with two glasses of wine._ I might just have to learn a little about wine, if this goes anywhere_, Marsh thought. She supposed she should learn a little.

"So, I was just thinking that I'm not sure I want to wait to see you until Sunday."

"Oh no?" Erica asked.

"Nope, but I am going to be up at the University every night this week." She hesitated, but then offered, "Maybe you could come up and visit me? I figure, I've seen the hospital already, maybe I could show you some bugs," she only half joked.

"That sounds nice," Erica replied, "I think I have a light week coming up, so that works out."

The two women enjoyed their glasses of wine, letting the remainder of the evening hours fly by. Before they knew it, the clock was drifting off into the early morning hours. Marsh was delighting in how the composed woman was opening up to her and Erica was surprising herself by how easily she was sharing with Marsh. The conversation came full circle when Erica again mentioned that she wanted to hear Marsh play, to which Marsh warned that she really hadn't played in a number of years.

"So, if you didn't get into music, what else did you do in high school? And college?" Marsh asked.

"Well, I grew up in a fairly small town in Rhode Island, so there wasn't much to do. I ran the student council and was captain of the cross country team in high school. Um, yes, I like to be in charge," she added, noticing the look on Marsh's face. "When I did my undergrad at Stanford, I kept with the running, but in all honesty, schoolwork began to take over most of time. And by the time I was in med school here in Baltimore, there was no time left for anything else besides medicine. It's been that way for a while now. I still have interests, but they become easy to push aside in the face of my schedule and all the work."

"Hmm, a runner, I wouldn't have thought that."

"Well, there's still a lot you don't know about me," Erica smirked, knowing that flirting was still in the realm of things she was pretty good at, despite her awkward nature. Flirting was all about confidence, and that was in no short supply with Erica Hahn. "Oh, and I could kick your ass at darts any day of the week," she added.

"Ooh, I'll take that as a challenge. I was known as quite the darts player at our local bar down at Virginia Tech," Marsh said as she pulled up along the curb outside of Erica's house.

"So that's where you did undergrad?" Erica asked.

"Undergrad, graduate school after Africa, and then I taught there for about ten years. I grew up around here, so it was just close enough and just far enough away."

"Wow, that's a lot of time spend in one place. Whatever brought you back up to DC?" Erica asked, fingering the wine glass that she had decided should remain empty at this hour.

"Uh," Marsh stuttered slightly. "A lot of things, ya know. It was . . . uh . . . complicated."

"Oh," Erica replied, worried that she had struck a chord with the younger woman. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to - "

"It's ok, just . . . you know," Marsh rambled, her nervous tell leaking out.

Erica didn't know, but wasn't about to press. Nor did she want to. She certainly understood about being reserved, about having personal stories. She was concerned that Marsh seemed uncomfortable however.

"Well, it's entirely later than I planned on staying out tonight," Marsh said quickly, standing up and adjusting her outfit. "Especially considering I have to be in the field tomorrow."

"Oh yeah, I forgot," Erica said, following Marsh to the front door, and out onto her front porch as the brunette turned around to say goodbye.

"So . . . I'll see you some time this week?" Erica asked, still more than a little worried that Marsh seemed suddenly thrown off.

"Oh, yeah, I'll call you and let you know." She hesitated and then looked up at Erica, who seemed to be standing there worried. "Hey, I really don't mean to leave abruptly. I just know that if I stay any later, there's a good chance of me falling asleep on your couch," she laughed nervously, half lying, but wanting to make sure Erica knew it wasn't her fault.

She stepped back toward the blonde and tenderly placed a soft, firm kiss on her lips. The kiss lingered, both women's minds firing rapidly despite the calm embrace.

"Goodnight, Erica."

"Night, Marsh, sleep well," Erica said as Marsh walked off, not quite sure what just happened. She trodded back inside her house, mostly thrilled at another great date but doubting all of it now after Marsh's quick exit. At this point, however, Erica was exhausted and was still simply not enough of a girl to get overemotional this quickly. She would sleep and think about it in the morning.


	5. Chapter 5

**Title: Heart Bugs - Chapter Five  
**

**Pairing: Erica/OC**

**Rating: PG-13 for now, will jump to R/NC-17 later**

**Summary: What happens in the five days after the awkward date moment.  
**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Grey's Anatomy, nor any of the characters in it. Everything in this story is fictional and I am not making a profit from this.**

* * *

**Monday**.

"So then you just left? Like that?"

"Yup. Pretty much."

"Wow, smooth."

"I know. It was terrible. I just sort of . . . mini panicked."

"Is that even a thing? Can you mini panic?"

"Well, if you can, I did. And now I don't know what to do."

Marsh sat with Laura in a small coffee shop down the street from the high school where Laura taught. It wasn't the best of neighborhoods, but they had been going there for years. It was convenient and the owner had taken a liking to them, often making them try his latest novelty coffee creations. They had began the afternoon with necessary doses of caffeine, a fair amount of catching up, and more praise for Laura's show. It had quickly developed, however, into Marsh's pained description of the end of her and Erica's date.

"Here I go, setting up the perfect date atmosphere – a night out on the town, sexy cello music . . . and you go and ruin it all."

"I know. I suck." She dropped her head onto the table.

"Hey, I'm kidding, Miss Marcia. You hardly suck," Laura said honestly. "Although, I still am surprised you got as uncomfortable as you did."

"Me too! I thought I was past it. No, I am past it. It's been five years, and, I mean, the beginning was terrible, but I've been good, I've been great now for a long time."

"I know, trust me, I know. So why last night?"

"I don't know," Marsh paused. "Or . . . maybe I do. It was the first time I've talked to someone about it, other than you guys, in forever."

"And?"

"And it's the first time a woman has asked," Marsh admitted, remembering just how good Laura had always been at playing therapist. "It's never gotten far enough for me to consider explaining before."

"And that would make sense since you've spent the last few years accepting first dates with perfectly nice girls and then telling them to go away."

Marsh cocked her head to the side; as if she needed a description of her pathetic attempts at re-entering the dating world.

"Again, Marsh, kidding. Wow, you're really serious about this one, aren't you?" Laura asked.

"I don't know, I mean, there's only been two dates, and well, I ruined the second one. Well not ruined, the beginning was great up until that point. But yeah, I think Erica is great. She's strong and funny and confident, but sweet. There's definitely something different about her," Marsh finished out of breath.

"Wow, I haven't seen you like this since - " Laura stopped abruptly.

"Yeah," Marsh answered, before taking a deep breath. "So what do I do now?"

"You . . . talk to her." She saw Marsh's face and continued, "Look, I know you're looking for some ancient Asian wisdom here, but A - I was born in Atlanta, and B - it really is as simple as that."

"I'm just not sure if I know how to."

"Look, I only met her for a few seconds, but Erica seems solid. If she's everything you're already sensing her to be, you'll be fine. She'll be fine."

"Yeah, you're right."

"I know, trust me, I know."

* * *

**Tuesday.**

"Hey, Dr. Hahn."

"Dylan," Erica replied, signing the last of her charts for the day. She dotted her last 'i' and looked up at Sydney.

"I just saw that you don't have a cardio resident for your valve replacement tomorrow."

"Well, Dr. Robinson is first assisting since there are also intestinal repairs to be made, but if you want to scrub in, you may."

"Thanks, Dr. Hahn. Think I could try sewing in the valve myself?" Sydney asked eagerly.

"Don't push it, Dylan," Erica warned, happy to see her female resident push it. Dr. Dillinger was also a great surgeon, and though Erica would never seriously play professional favorites, she couldn't help feeling good about grooming another player in the fight against the boys' club.

As she stared at the desktop, unconsciously comparing Sydney to Cristina Yang, a pink, sprinkle covered cupcake appeared under her nose.

"Wha - "

"Hi, Dr. Hahn!" Jake Dillinger stood proudly behind the cupcake, smile beaming. Erica admitted briefly that had she never experienced her gay revelation, or her permanent gaycation as Kate liked to call it, Jake may have proved somewhat of a distraction. Today, however, she accepted the cupcake, thinking only logically that her blood sugar was low anyway, and stared expectantly Jake.

"Well, Dr. Hahn," Jake began in his most charming voice. "I just happened to notice that you don't have a resident on your surgery tomorrow and I thought I would kindly offer my services."

"Well, I do appreciate the gesture," Erica licked off some of the pink icing, "but I won't be needing your services tomorrow."

"But?"

"Dylan beat you to it wonder boy."

"That little," he said, his face twisting up. "She asked me to grab some films for her."

"Surgery is cutthroat Jake, you should know that by now," Erica said. He turned decisively, Erica figured to go attack her other cardio resident, while she added, "Next time, try chocolate and we might be able to make a deal."

* * *

**Wednesday.**

Erica stood over the body in the OR, carefully snipping and cauterizing as she went. Dr. Robinson was assisting, waiting to start on her own repairs. Dr. Dylan looked on, asking pointed questions intermittently. Erica paused for just a second, cracking her neck. She had already been working for three hours; as focused as she was, she was tired and really just wanted to get off her feet.

"You look stressed, Erica."

"I'm just fine, Dr. Robinson," Erica replied dryly. Kate had repeatedly mocked Erica for using her last name in the hospital, but just the fact that it irked her made Erica stick to the professional title whenever she could.

"Uh huh, Dr. Hahn. You may be able to lie to your baby residents, no offense," Kate said, nodding Sydney's way. "But you can't lie to me. Come on, spill."

"I'm fine, Kate. And a little busy at the moment."

Kate continued, undeterred, "Oh man, is it your new ladyfriend? Did you mess things up already? Did she ramble in bed?"

Erica stopped cutting and looked up. "Really? Kate have you ever known me to talk about my personal life in the middle of an OR?"

"Well, no. But we haven't scrubbed in together since you first came here. I thought maybe you'd learned to share. Sharing is healthy, isn't that right Dr. Dylan?"

"Uh, yeah, I mean, sure," Sydney spoke, thrown off. She thought about the conversation though, and couldn't help adding, "You're dating someone new, Dr. Hahn?" She smiled, genuinely happy for her attending.

Erica relented, "Yes, I'm dating someone. No, I didn't mess it up already. And if you even think I'm going to talk about sex, I'm turning the scalpel on the two of you next."

"Awww," Kate and Sydney happened to say in unison. They had both learned, in their own time, that the best way to handle Erica's personality was to ignore a lot of the attitude Erica coated her actions with. Remaining professional and respectful were par for the course too, but overall they knew that their dismissal of Erica's arrogance made her respect them more at the end of the day.

"I hate you both."

"No, you love us. So really, what happened? Because you have the opposite of the I'm getting laid by someone new face right now."

Erica ignored Kate's phrasing but gave in. "She just kind of left suddenly the other night. We were talking about college and I asked her a question, and she . . . just got uncomfortable and left. I don't know."

"I could kick her ass for you, want me to kick her ass?" Kate offered.

"I don't think that's necessary. Look, if she wants to tell me she will. It's only been a couple of dates, hardly the time to begin worrying already," Erica said, mostly being honest. She was a little thrown off, but it really was too early to get worried. Although, she really did like Marsh already, she was becoming emotionally invested whether she liked it or not.

"Hmm, maybe she used to be a spy," Sydney guessed.

"Maybe she's in the witness protection program, a mob thing," Kate said.

"You guys are ridiculous. Although she did say she was half Italian," Erica joked. "We're supposed to see each other this week, I imagine she'll explain then."

"Supposed to?"

"Well, she hasn't called to set anything up yet, but . . ." Erica trailed off, not expecting or appreciating the uncertainty in her own voice.

"Aww, is Dr. Hahn worried that her new girl toy hasn't called yet? You're just waiting by your phone like a 16-year-old girl, picking flower petals and drawing hearts on your charts and - "

"Ok, that's it. This conversation is over. Now!" Erica yelled in her most authoritative voice. Kate stopped talking, but after stealing one glance at the younger cardio resident, the two began and kept on laughing.

* * *

**Thursday.**

It had been five days now since Erica had spoken to Marsh. And Erica was fighting with herself. On one hand, they had only been on two dates, and really only known each other a couple of weeks. Erica knew it was way too early to be reading into anything, including a hasty late night departure. She hadn't yet shared everything with Marsh, least of which her messy coming out story. No, Erica was determined not to care this much this early on.

But on the other hand, Erica knew she already did care. There was something about Marsh that put her immediately at ease, which rarely happened. She was smart, driven, interesting. She pushed enough for Erica to know she was strong, but never too hard. She seemed balanced, and just, right. So as much as Erica didn't want to, she knew she was at a point where she could start to fall.

And there was the fact that Marsh said she would call her, and simply hadn't yet. They still had a tentative date on Sunday, but they had planned to meet at her lab. Erica sensed Marsh wasn't the flakey type, so she had really begun to wonder what was going on. But for now, she was going to trust that Marsh would call and if she didn't, well, she would handle that if it came. After everything she had been through in the past year, Erica knew no matter what, she could handle this.

She knew she was overthinking as she poured over journal articles on her laptop in her office. She rubbed hear forehead wearily, thankful that she had less than a half hour in her day. Just as she closed her laptop, ready to finish up some late paperwork, her pager went off. Trauma, 911. Great. She ran off.

It was eleven at night by the time she scrubbed out on her last surgery. There had been a fire downtown, and there were all manner of injuries, from smoke inhalation to crush injuries from collapsed beams. Only one person had died, and the rest seemed to be looking at full recoveries in time. Still clad in her polka dotted scrub cap, she walked to the waiting room to inform the last family of their relative's surgery. She heard her name before she registered the person in front of her.

"Erica?"

"Laura!" She immediately put two and two together. "You're Mrs. Chen's - "

"Niece, actually." She pointed backward, indicating some other family members, eagerly waiting. "My dad's sister. And these are my parents, and a couple of my cousins. They're all in town visiting to see my show." The family members politely nodded, too worried to do anything more.

"Well, I have good news for you. You're aunt is going to be just fine. It looks like the stress of the fire triggered an MI, a heart attack, but it was incredibly minor and shouldn't be an issue after we release her tomorrow."

The family broke into smiles, hugging each other. Laura instinctively hugged Erica. "Thank you so much. I know we don't know each other too well yet, but thank you."

Erica accepted the hug better than she usually did from patients' families. "It was no problem, just doing my job." She shrugged shyly.

"So how are you and Marsh doing? She really likes you, ya know," Laura prodded.

"Well, actually I'm not sure. We were doing great, I like her too. But we were supposed to get together one of these week days and I still haven't heard from her. I don't know." Erica confessed.

"She hasn't called you yet?" Laura said, surprised and annoyed. "She told me she ran out last weekend." Erica nodded. "But we talked and I figured she would have called by now."

"Hey, it's ok, I mean she's allowed to . . . I wouldn't expect her . . . I just," Erica stuttered, unable to honestly verbalize her feelings at this point.

"She hasn't told you anything about her last relationship, has she?"

"Not really, just that it ended a while ago."

"So I shouldn't be the one to tell you anything, but hopefully she will. Because I haven't seen her this excited in a long time, a very long time," Laura said. "And if you have feelings for her, don't let her go easily. Marsh . . . is one of the most solid people I've ever known, but she . . . definitely has a past."

Erica thought she understood, "We all do, don't we?" She thought of her own.

"Exactly. Look, thank you again for everything tonight. My family . . . just thank you." Laura started to walk back toward her family, but quickly turned around, "And I mean it. I like you, I want to see the two of you together. Marsh can push sometimes, push back."

* * *

**Friday**.

Erica Hahn was energized. She was determined and she had a plan. She was driving north out of the city, into the college town that housed the University of Maryland. She had come here once for a special seminar in medical school, but so far nothing was looking familiar. Memorizing all the bones, muscles and tissues in the body was no problem for her, but when it came to driving and directions, Erica Hahn was hopeless.

She finally found the campus, the correct building and a nearby parking lot. Grabbing the food on her passenger seat, she got out of the car, took a giant deep breath, and began walking. She hoped she wasn't pushing too hard, but Laura had suggested it and Erica was good at it. She was a surgeon, she was proactive. She still went after things headfirst because it was the only way she knew how to do anything. She was not indecisive and was certainly action oriented. On the elevator ride up to the 5th floor of the entomology department's building, she thought of the conversation she and Marsh had finally had earlier that day.

"_Hi, Marsh?"_

"_Erica? Hey, how are you?"_

"_I'm doing fine, it was a long week, but I'm done for now. How are you?"_

"_In all honesty, stressed out. We lost samples earlier in the week, I'm rushing to finish the analysis on this study, and the director of our lab just informed us that he's leaving at the end of the summer."_

_Erica figured that Marsh was only telling half of the truth, especially judging by what Laura had told her. But she was also the first to understand how complications in a high stress job can exacerbate personal problems at home. _

"_I'm sorry to hear that. Well, I was going to see if I could still take you up on coming to the University. Ya know, to see bugs. And you."_

"_Well, I would have you up here, but I'm just going to be working late tonight. I have a formal report due on Monday that I'm nowhere near ready to present. I've been here until midnight every night this week and tonight's looking to be quite the same." _

"_Oh, ok. Well, are you still up for Sunday?" Erica asked, already knowing she would see the brunette before then. _

"_Yes, definitely," she replied. "And Erica?"_

"_Yes?"_

"_I'm sorry about not calling sooner. I just - "_

"_Hey, it's fine. No worries. I promise, ok?"_

"_Ok, see you Sunday."_

"_Sunday. Bye."_

"_Bye."_

She had reached the right floor and was now searching around, trying to make sense out of the door numbers. There was no one around at this hour, so she walked around for a good five minutes before she found the room she was looking for. The plaque on the door read 'Smith Lab', and listed Marcia Stravinsky's name underneath it. There was a large photo underneath the nameplate of, what Erica assumed to be, the lab members, including all the graduate students. They were wearing waders, standing in a stream on a sunny day. Marsh stood all the way to the right in the photo, her curly hair three times as big in the humidity, smiling a huge smile.

Erica knew she was doing the right thing as she knocked on the door. A voice said 'come in' and she opened the door to see Marsh at a long conference table at one end of a sizeable laboratory. There was a myriad of equipment set up all over the room, countless plaques and posters of insects hung up, and jars of specimens on the bench. Marsh sat among no less than fifteen stacks of books and papers, her laptop nearly concealed in the middle of it all.

She looked shocked to say the least, removing her glasses which Erica was also noticing for the first time. She smiled though and said, "Erica," more as a matter of statement than question.

"Hey, I know I'm unannounced and this is last minute, but I was hoping we could talk," Erica implored.

Marsh studied her for a few moments. If Erica was nervous, she wasn't showing it. She was steely eyed and her posture was firm as she held a bag of what Marsh really hoped was take-out. She was waiting for a response to her invitation, but Marsh suspected she was here to stay no matter what. And as Marsh indicated to Erica to sit by pulling out the chair next to her, she realized that applied to tonight and beyond.


	6. Chapter 6

**Title: Heart Bugs - Chapter Six  
**

**Pairing: Erica/OC**

**Rating: This chapter is probably R, we're getting there folks.  
**

**Summary: Erica finds Marsh and they have a talk.  
**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Grey's Anatomy, nor any of the characters in it. Everything in this story is fictional and I am not making a profit from this.**

**A/N: Thanks to the people reading and reviewing so far! Keep letting me know what you think.  
**

**

* * *

**

"So first of all, this scene looks all too familiar to me. I think, chances are, you have been staring at a computer screen and all these papers for the better part of the day and have eaten . . . let's see . . . a half a bagel and most of a yogurt?" She looked for confirmation as she took the seat next to the brunette, setting down the bag of take-out food.

"It was a granola bar and yogurt, but damn, that's a little eerie," Marsh replied with wide eyes, still in slight shock that Erica was there.

"And," Erica continued right away, "as a doctor who has previously overseen your heart health, I cannot advise eating like this on a regular basis. But as someone who understands the late night crunch of paper writing, I come with hopefully delicious, slightly greasy, and always satisfying Thai food."

She pulled various boxes and containers out of the bag, along with some plates, chopsticks and napkins. Marsh eyed the food up like a bear in spring, not so secretly overjoyed that Erica had brought it. She had been working for about twelve hours at this point, and really needed to scrape together these last details for her presentation. Eating was the last thing on her mind as she prepared to finish her final research project in the wake of the director of her lab stepping down.

She watched as Erica organized the food and set the lids aside. She was methodical, she was focused, even on a task as small and simple as this one. If Marsh hadn't already seen some of Erica's softness, she might have been put off by the mechanical and authoritative way she handled the food. But Marsh was already sensing that Erica kept the little things organized and simple in order to deal with the bigger things. She didn't have room for the little things in life to be messy or not taken care of properly, because that would impede focus on the larger issues. The surgeries she had to perform, the surgical program she had to run, the lives that were ultimately in her hands.

Marsh first thought about how this differed so much from her own world view, but the more time she spent with Erica, the more she realized that she just had a different way of getting to pretty much the same place. Instead of insisting that the details be perfect to get to the big picture, Marsh instead decided not to fret over them. She didn't worry about the insignificant details because there were broader pictures, more complete truths to go after. In this way, she couldn't help but realize that she and Erica matched on the basics of their outlook, just differed in the paths they took to get there.

"Earth to Marsh?" Erica was now waving her hand in front of Marsh's face, holding a plate of hot, irresistible food before her.

"Sorry, it really has been a long day, Erica. Thank you so much for this, you have no idea how much it hits the spot," Marsh finally said, through mouthfuls of rice, chicken and veggies.

"Good, I'm glad. I know I don't come off as the most nurturing person, but I think it's part of every doctor's personality," Erica said, being more honest than she was planning on. "We need to make sure people are taken care of, even if it's just in the basics."

To this, Marsh only smiled and continued eating. Erica actually ate rather quickly too, Marsh noted, leading her to wonder if Erica had been running around today, if she had gone out of her way to come up here. Though she had invited her initially, she thought Erica would have been dissuaded by the lack of contact this week. At first, Marsh had simply procrastinated. And then she had worried. And then, as it got later in the week, real work had trumped her emotional needs and sense of embarrassment. She still wasn't sure how this night was going to turn out, but she was glad Erica had taken the initiative and found her in her lab retreat.

"Ok, so I understand getting bogged down with a workload that makes you tune out the rest of the world, but am I right in assuming that you've been avoiding me at least a little bit this week?" Erica started in, after they had made sure they were full.

"Um . . . well, yes and no. At first yes and then the work really did - "

"No. Hold on," Erica interrupted. "No rambling quite yet. Am I also correct in assuming that you left pretty abruptly last weekend?"

"Yes," Marsh answered, understanding at this point that Erica was trying to get something out.

"And am I correct in assuming that you left after I started asking you about Virginia, about your past?"

"That would also be correct, Dr. Hahn." It was easier to address these questions when they were brought up in such a straightforward manor.

Erica took a deep breath and steadied her own wavering nerves. She was on a high akin to that she found on her best days in the OR. For the first time in a long time she was sure about something, or at least sure about what she could do about that something.

"Ok, well I am the first person to understand reservation about personal details, and I'm here to say that you don't need to tell me anything right now. I asked because I was curious, but we've only known each other for a couple of weeks, and by no means do I expect you to go into details you're not comfortable with." She paused and thought about her own life. "Especially difficult ones."

Marsh softened as Erica spoke, grateful that she didn't come here demanding explanations. She didn't really think Erica would have done that, but Erica also seemed like a no nonsense person.

"That being said, I think I have three things that I need to say here, tonight. One . . . I have spent a long time knowing medicine and little else. I am the best in my field, but when it comes to the rest of life . . . like I said before, it's kind of fallen behind over the years," she paused, a look of regret being overtaken by a look of steadfast certainty. "But I know what I want now. I spent years dating men and having ok experiences, but now I finally understand what it is that I want, what I need."

Erica said this with such an honest smile creeping up on her face that Marsh was almost taken aback. When Erica had first said that she had only been with one other woman, she had been nervous. She remembered the beginning and all of the uncertainty, the grey areas, and the doubt. But as Erica spoke in front of her, she knew there was none of that in the surgeon's head. Perhaps that's just the way it goes when you come out later in life; it's an easier part of the puzzle to fit into the rest of an established life at that point.

"Which leads me to two – I want you. I want this. I . . . can't predict what's going to happen, or whether we'll be perfect for each other down the road. But . . . I feel something for you already, and I want to pursue it. There's something about you that just . . . feels right," Erica tried to find the words to describe her already strong feelings. She wanted to articulate to Marsh exactly what she wanted without coming on too strongly. "So what I'm trying to say is . . . I want to try. I want to give this an honest shot. And I really hope you do too."

Marsh was grinning widely, knowing how hard it probably was for Erica to be sitting there saying all this, despite her confident attitude. Marsh already knew at this point in the night that she wanted to give this a shot too. She wasn't sure about the future either, but this had promise, she thought. And if she was going to take this leap back into the world of dating, Erica seemed like the perfect person to catch her. However, in this moment, Erica was on a roll, and to Marsh, it was cute. Adorable even. And she wanted to see where it was going.

"And three?" Marsh asked.

"Three what?" Erica looked confused.

Marsh laughed out loud, easing Erica's frazzled nerves. "You said you had three things you wanted to say to me right now?"

Erica snapped back to where she was, more amused than nervous at this point. "Oh yeah. And three – there's no way you're history can be any worse than mine." Erica smirked, her lip turning upward in an almost challenge.

"Oh really, do tell." Marsh called Erica's bluff.

"Hmm, I don't know, I feel like I've been doing most of the talking tonight already."

Marsh's happy face fell. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean, you don't have - "

"Hey." Erica was becoming better and better at cutting off Marsh's unnecessary rants. "I was kidding, Marsh. I'm going to tell you because I'm ready to tell you. And because I feel like I want to. It doesn't mean you have to reciprocate," she paused, "right now. You can tell me whenever you want. I guess I'm saying . . . I want to try to stick around long enough for you to talk to me eventually."

Marsh couldn't help it, she had the beginnings of tears in her eyes. Instead, she shook her head, leaned over and kissed Erica. Their lips were barely touching at first, just a gossamer bond as Marsh brushed up against the blonde. She pulled Erica's bottom lip between her own and ran her tongue along it. Erica brought her hand up and buried it deep within Marsh's brown curls, allowing Marsh to explore, allowing her full access.

They broke apart, both smiling. "I want to hear whatever you have to tell me, Erica Hahn. I love how patient you're being. I love . . . that you feel comfortable talking to me."

Erica's heart jumped just a little bit; she couldn't believe how safe she felt in this foreign lab, next to this familiar stranger. This was just right, and she knew it.

"Ok, so I already told you that I've only been with one woman. That was about nine months ago, and it only lasted a little while. In fact, it could probably win an award for shortest non-relationship ever," Erica revealed with a half smirk, making light of her beginnings with Callie the best she could.

"She was a friend, the closest one I had made probably my entire time in Seattle. One day we were perfect friends, the next I was jealous that she was sleeping with one of our male surgeons, and the next she kissed me and we were something more."

Marsh nodded; the story was familiar. For her, it had just happened years earlier. Sometimes it just takes a specific person to trigger what you're actually feeling on the inside. "What was her name?"

"Callie," Erica said. "So she and I fumbled around the first few dates blindly, it was awkward and hot and new all at the same time. I thought she was right there with me, but it turns out, she just wasn't. At least . . . we weren't going at the same pace, I guess."

"What happened?"

"I told her I finally realized I was gay, and she got scared and ran."

"Ran?"

"She went and slept with that male surgeon. It didn't help that he was a dirty manwhore," she added as an aside, causing Marsh to laugh suddenly. "And instead of telling her how upset I was, I let it go, figuring it would work itself out. But . . . we weren't at the same place, and it took a fight over something else to just drive us apart."

"I'm sorry."

"I'm not." Erica noticed the surprise in Marsh's eyes. "I mean, I was furious back in the moment. So furious in fact . . . that I up and left Seattle. In a matter of three days, I had quit, packed, moved and started over out here."

"Wow, that's, um . . ."

"I know, impulsive, irrational, cowardly. All the things I never thought I was. And still don't, mostly. But I also found myself knowing I was gay for the first time at 41. So nothing made sense in those moments. I was already starting over, so it somehow made sense at the time to start over somewhere new." Erica shrugged as if to say she knew it wasn't the best move she could have made, but the only one that seemed logical at the time.

"But I'm not sorry, because it was obviously something I needed. Without Callie, I wouldn't be here, right now. Without all that, I'd still be leading some incomplete life as just Dr. Hahn back in Seattle. And that . . . isn't . . . "

"What you were meant to do," Marsh finished.

"I don't think so."

"So what did Callie say about you leaving?"

"Well, um . . . we haven't exactly spoken since . . ." Erica said, the most embarrassed she'd been all evening.

"Really?" Marsh asked, honestly curious, trying to keep any sound of judgment out of her voice.

"She called a lot in the first few days, but I was too angry then. And confused. So I didn't answer. I didn't know what to say, my whole world was a mess. And so after a while, I figure she just gave up. I started a life here to distract myself, and it just grew into something I really value now. I love this hospital, and my residents even. I have friends here and neighbors I actually know. After a while, it would have just been awkward timing to talk again, ya know, there just never seems to be the right moment for closure. I don't know."

"Well, it seems to me that you've come pretty far on your own with everything," Marsh laughed, squeezing Erica's leg with her hands that seemed to have drifted to that spot on their own. "And if closure is something you really do want, I have no doubt that you'll make that connection when the time is right."

"Yeah, I think so."

"Or I could just go to Seattle right now and kick this chick's ass," Marsh offered, her sweet tone a juxtaposition to the sentiment. She and Erica both laughed, although Marsh actually already felt protective of the blonde. Not that Erica looked like she needed protection on a regular basis, she still felt like she would defend her if need be.

"I don't think that's quite necessary, but this works too," Erica said. "I've told Kate what happened, why I left Seattle, but you're the only other person who really knows out here."

Marsh leaned in again for a kiss, and this time Erica met her full on. This kiss was not gentle, it was about saying thank you. It was about embracing an opportunity to share, whether that be words, emotions, or this touch. Erica sought entrance to the brunette's mouth which she instantly granted. This kiss was about pushing boundaries and making promises. This kiss said something that neither of these women had said to anyone in quite a long time.

They broke breathless, their foreheads resting against each other. At this hour on campus, there was little ambient noise, and under the set of circumstances, Erica more than expected to hear crickets in the distance. The two women simply rested and took in this moment, one of the first truly serious and deep moments between them. It felt big, but it also felt right.

"So I think I can tell you a little of my story now, Erica," Marsh whispered.

"Are you sure? I fully meant what I said, you don't have to," Erica reassured.

"No, I want to. I knew I wanted to as soon as you walked in that door tonight, actually."

"Seriously," Erica pulled back, jokingly. "And here I've been, baring my soul, telling you all my secrets, pretending to be - "

"Ok, shut up, or I actually may lose my nerve." Erica stopped talking, knowing for a fact this was the only time she'd ever responded to that command as an adult.

"So I haven't dated anyone in five years, I told you that. But . . I was in a relationship with a woman for ten years before that."

To that admission, Erica raised her eyebrows. It was slightly intimidating but she was still Erica Hahn, very little intimidated her.

"Her name was Lisa. We met in Africa actually, she was a postdoc, working in the Malaria clinic we were doing research at. We fell in love over there, came back here and settled in Virginia, near the university. She taught international relations while I went to grad school and later took up teaching myself."

Marsh paused for more than a moment, and Erica took the opportunity to participate. "Sounds like a good setup."

"It was. We got married, well, as married as you can get in Virginia. Had the house, the life, we were talking family. Then five years ago, she was driving home from campus, it was snowing, she hit black ice and crashed. And . . . that was it."

There were many things Erica had prepared herself for tonight. This was not one of them.

"Marsh, I'm so sorry." Erica had given people bad news too many times to count in her life; she knew there were few words that could work in a circumstances wherein you didn't know the situation that well. Erica always felt it was better to just listen in those instances.

"Thanks, yeah. The beginning was hard, it was tough, it . . . sucked," Marsh laughed a little, thankful for five years of perspective. "But, I have great friends, a supportive family. I moved up here to be closer to Laura and some other people. Got the job at Maryland and threw myself into it." Erica nodded in empathy.

"I don't think I'll ever be the same, or forget about her completely. But I am in a good spot now. I have been for a while actually. Ya know, therapy, yoga, surfing, friends, the occasional night of too much beer, it's all helped," Marsh laughed heartily this time.

"You seem so amazingly well balanced, I would have never suspected," Erica offered.

"Yeah, well, like I said, the first couple of years were rough, really rough. But you bounce back, right? Because what else can you do?" She looked Erica in the eyes, "The other night freaked me out because . . . because I haven't talked about Lisa to anyone I've dated yet."

"Really?"

"Mmm mm." she shook her head. She grabbed Erica's hands, rubbing them with her thumbs. "It's never gone far enough for me to want to share. And . . . there's definitely more to the story, messy details and all, but for now . . . I wanted you to at least know that."

"And I really appreciate that."

"So I guess we know each other's deep dark secrets now," Marsh said, inching closer in her chair to the blonde.

"Um, I have plenty of other secrets you don't know yet," Erica challenged as she noticed Marsh getting closer. "Not necessarily deep nor dark, but - "

Marsh was done talking. For tonight at least. She caught Erica's words with her lips and for the first, but certainly not the last, time silenced the blonde surgeon with a kiss. She pulled back to ask a question.

"So I guess we're doing this then, aren't we?"

"I guess we are," Erica said through a smile. "I suppose we're . . . dating?"

"I don't know if you've figured this out about me yet, but I don't care much for semantics. I want to see you again. And again. I want to take you to the zoo, I want to teach you all about bugs. If you want to call those dates, and call this dating, go ahead. All I know right now is that I want you, I want this."

Erica leaned in, sidestepping Marsh's lips until her own hovered just next to Marsh's ear. "Are you scared?"

"Terrified," she whispered back.

At this, Erica drew her head back and looked into Marsh's eyes. It was a look that said it's ok. A look that said I've got you.

"Me too. Now kiss me."

And she did. Marsh assaulted Erica's lips, drawing them between her own. She wasted no time wrapping her hands around Erica's neck, all the while moving off her own chair and climbing into Erica's, one knee on either side of the blonde. The kiss deepened and Erica involuntarily moaned at the new contact. Marsh pulled back for a brief second to make sure Erica was still ok, and the look in the older woman's eyes was all she needed to continue.

Marsh rubbed Erica's cheek with her thumb while she began to slowly place open mouthed kisses along Erica's neck, up to her ear. She heard Erica nearly whimper as she gently licked her earlobe. Having the steadfast doctor begin to melt underneath her was too good for Marsh. She was absolutely delighting in all the different hats of Erica Hahn.

"Erica, you're so hot," she whispered in Erica's ear, just before she swirled her tongue around the inside of it. Erica practically fell apart at this and, trying to turn the tables, pushed Marsh away. She looked briefly around the room and for a moment Marsh wondered if something was wrong. Suddenly, in one motion, Erica rose from the chair, Marsh wrapped up in her arms, and sat the brunette on the small portion of the table in front of them not covered in papers and books.

"Oh my god, Erica," Marsh laughed, surprised, turned on and delighted all at once.

Erica smiled as she stepped in between Marsh's legs. She used her eager tongue to lick one long line from the low opening of Marsh's button down shirt, up the length of her slender neck and up to her waiting lips. The two women kissed deeply and Marsh grabbed the collar of Erica's shirt to pull her closer.

She then let her hands trail down over the top of Erica's blouse, lightly brushing her nipples through the layers of fabric. Erica moaned into the brunette's mouth, pushing herself into Marsh's touch. Erica, in the meantime, had pushed Marsh's shirt up and untucked her undershirt. She let her fingertips graze the skin just above Marsh's pants, tracing circles and patterns on Marsh's perfectly toned back.

They continued to explore with their hands and lips, eventually ending up more horizontal on the table. Erica was just about to ponder whether it would be appropriate to climb up on this table, on top of the object of her desire when she heard a noise behind her. Suddenly the door opened and she heard Marsh before she could turn around to see what was going on.

"Harris!" Marsh yelled, as she pushed Erica back.

Erica stepped back immediately, looking at the young man in the doorway. She knew she was already turning red, mortified at being caught. She expected Marsh to be the same, but instead looked up finally to see Marsh laughing, cracking up really.

"Oh Marsh," the young man chastised while shaking his head.

"Harris, this is Dr. Erica Hahn. Erica, this is Harris, one of our graduate students.

Erica was still adjusting her shirt nervously as she nodded toward Harris in a gesture of making his acquaintance.

"I was just dropping some articles off for you, didn't think you'd still be working."

"Yeah, well this presentation is really taking it out of me," Marsh answered, only slightly thrown off by being interrupted. Erica didn't know whether to admire the woman's lack of embarrassment or be even more mortified by it.

"Mmm hmm, Marsh," Harris said, dropping the files on the far end of the table. He nodded back at Erica and turned to leave. "Nice to meet you, Erica."

Erica had yet to regain her voice and settled for a eyebrow raise at the boy.

Marsh hollered at him as he walked out of the room, "So I guess makes us even now?"

"Haha," he replied, shaking his head sheepishly. "Yeah, I think that sounds about right."

He left and as the two women heard the footsteps down the hallway, they turned to each other and lost it.

"I'm so sorry, Erica. No one is ever here this late at night."

"Grad students never go home. I lived at Hopkins for a three week stretch once," Erica said, relaxing despite herself. "So you're even now?"

"Um, about three months ago, I caught Harris and his girlfriend, um, getting hot and heavy in our conference room down the hall." Erica's eyes went wide. "And they were wearing considerably less clothing than we are right now. So I'd say that's a good thing."

"Is it now?" Erica challenged.

"Two dates and you're already looking to get in my pants. My my, Dr. Hahn."

"I can't help it, I know what I want," Erica answered. "Do you still have a lot to do here?"

Marsh looked at the explosion of research on her table. "Not that I would be able to concentrate anyway, but no, I think I'm as prepared as I'm going to be. Want to take me home? I grabbed a ride here with another professor in the neighborhood this morning. I was going to take the Metro back." She paused, looking Erica in the eye. "And by that I mean I was probably going to just sleep in my office tonight."

"Haha. I've had my share of nights like that too. Let's go home."

"Let's."


	7. Chapter 7

**Title: Heart Bugs - Chapter Seven  
**

**Pairing: Erica/OC**

**Rating: Let's start saying M to be safe. The rest probably will be.  
**

**Summary: A surprise date and a party!  
**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Grey's Anatomy, nor any of the characters in it. Everything in this story is fictional and I am not making a profit from this.**

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* * *

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Marsh knocked on Erica's door at precisely 10 am. Normally she was the type of girl to use the phrases 'mid-morning' and 'later on', but she figured Erica Hahn was more of a planner. Dating was all about bending, at least for the little things, and after her disappearance the week prior, Marsh figured she owed Erica some of the little details.

"Morning! You ready?" Marsh asked exuberantly.

"I might be a bit more ready if you told me where we were going," Erica replied, trying to sound annoyed, but in reality excited to be spending her Sunday off with the brunette.

"I did tell you, Erica."

"Pardon?" Now she was actually confused.

"Mmm hmm. I told you Alberto's, where we had our first date, would be your first lesson in the neighborhood, and that the second would be -"

"The zoo!" Erica finished, relieved that skydiving or something equally as terrifying hadn't just escaped Marsh's mouth. She could handle a lot of things, she could handle most things. It was the lack of control that was pushing Erica's boundaries lately with this woman. And while it was frustrating at times, when she was being honest with herself, it was also exhilarating.

"Ah, so your memory isn't going completely yet," Marsh smirked, the smart-ass comment rolling off her tongue too easily for Erica's taste.

Erica froze on the spot and gave Marsh her best Hahn death glare, usually reserved for the likes of cocky interns and incompetent residents. Marsh cocked her head to the side, as if to say, how cute, and reached up on her tip toes to kiss Erica quickly on the lips. The brunette smiled wide, turned on her heels, and walked out Erica's front door.

"Let's go!"

They had already seen the pandas, cheetahs, elephants, and giraffes and were now making their way through the primate house. Marsh had underestimated herself when she called herself an animal nerd, Erica thought, but the blonde found in endearing. Marsh not only had a childlike wonder for these animals but an impressive scientific knowledge of most of them. She appealed to Erica's intelligence by telling the blonde interesting facts about each animal they encountered.

Erica had been reading an informational poster about cognitive training and primates when she turned to find Marsh making the most ridiculous faces at a group of orangutans. To the apes' credit, they appeared rather disinterested at the antics of the woman, but Erica, on the other hand, burst into laughter at the sight.

"Wow. You are something else."

"What? It's non-threatening. It's playful. They love it!" Marsh retorted.

"Um, I don't know about that, they look pretty bored to me."

"Actually, she's right," they both turned at the sound of a zookeeper approaching them from behind. "See the way they're still watching you guys, they're definitely interested. These guys aren't as animated as some of the other primates, but just as smart. They're thinkers, observers," she finished, making her own faces at the apes before walking through the building.

"Haha, I win."

"Psshh, whatever," Erica said, walking away.

"Oh, Dr. Hahn," Marsh chased after her, grabbing her hand and leaning closely against her. She noticed Erica's apparent change in body language. "Wow, you're really used to knowing everything, aren't you?"

Erica softened up a bit, feeling her defenses simply drop around this woman. "Well, most of the time I do, so yes." She was being honest, if blunt.

"Hmm, well then, we're going to have to work on that. Because I already plan on teaching you lots of things I'm sure you don't know." And with that Marsh skipped off toward a concession stand that Erica noticed, above all things, sold a rainbow medley of cotton candy.

They held hands and walked through the rest of the zoo. Marsh insisted on feeding Erica cotton candy, and licking it off her lips after purposefully getting her sticky. Erica was delighting in watching Marsh lead her through the grounds. Even though she did prefer to know more than those around her, Erica was enjoying the learning process. It didn't hurt that Marsh made a point to kiss her after every exhibit. Which was new in and of itself for Erica. She thought for a brief moment at the beginning of the day that she might be nervous about displaying affection for this woman in public, but the nerves regarding that aspect of this relationship never came, and for that Erica was thankful. She realized on the inside that she was more than strong enough to deal with any onlooker who was brave enough to question her.

* * *

"So we have a couple hours before this party of yours?"

Erica checked her watch as she walked through her front door with Marsh. "Yeah, I suppose so. Ya know, we could probably get away with skipping it . . ." Erica said as she put her arms around Marsh's waist, drawing her close to her body.

"Um, no. One, because I want to go. This sounds like fun, a gay restaurant opening!"

"Can a building be gay?"

"Hush, you. And two, I have a feeling that your friend Kate would kick my butt if I kept you from her brother's party."

Erica gave in, "Fine, fine, you're right. We'll go, we'll drink too much champagne, and I'll get to show you off."

Marsh smiled wide at Erica, reaching up and running her hands through her long blonde hair. She reached forward and placed a few slow, tortuous kisses along Erica's jaw line. "You're pretty amazing, you know," she whispered softly into Erica's ear.

"Yeah, I do."

For that, she earned a light punch on the arm, but Marsh made no attempt to remove herself from Erica's embrace. "Ok, well then I'm gonna run home and shower. Meet you back here in a bit?"

Erica tightened her grip on the brunette, pushing her back the step or two toward the wall, and pinning her there. She pushed her against the wall, leaned in and kissed her. Not hard, but insistent and sensual. "Or . . . you could just shower here."

Marsh smirked widely even as she shook her head. "Get your mind out of the gutter Dr. Hahn. You're just gonna have to make due with imagining me in the shower for now. All naked and soapy and wet - "

"You're cruel, you know that, right?" Erica asked, slightly breathless.

"Maybe, but am I wrong in assuming that you also think it's too soon for that sort of thing?" Marsh asked honestly.

"No, you're right," Erica relented. "I . . . know I want to, but I know it's right to wait. I'm too damn logical for my own good."

"I like it. Because I think it's going to take our combined wills to keep me out of your pants until we're ready," Marsh said as she opened the door to the side of her and slipped out. Erica couldn't even retaliate as the brunette waved a polite goodbye, nearly skipping down Erica's walkway.

Erica groaned out loud and headed upstairs toward her bathroom. She really did need a shower, a cold one at that, she thought.

* * *

Erica gently placed her hand on the small of Marsh's back, leading her through the entrance of James and Kevin's restaurant. There were about two dozen people milling about, dressed up for a summer party. People were laughing, drinking champagne and being introduced to new friends of friends.

Erica spotted Kate and her brother in the far corner and grabbed Marsh's hand to walk her over in that direction. She had become breathless earlier seeing Marsh standing in her doorway, wearing a tan, off the shoulder cotton dress, her hair piled on top of her head in a soft up-do of sorts. Simple shoes and that simple silver jewelry she always wore finished it off. Erica had gone with a basic black spaghetti strap dress, adding a black cardigan for modesty. She knew walking through the restaurant that she and Marsh made a damn attractive pair.

"Erica, you made it!" Kate said loudly upon seeing the blonde and her date. "And Marsh, nice to see Erica hasn't scared you away quite yet!"

"You're an ass, Kate."

"Nice to see you again too, Dr. Robinson."

"Oh please, it's Kate. And this is my brother, Kevin. He owns this place, along with his partner, James, who is," she scanned the room, "over there, flirting with someone who is not his boyfriend." Kate and Kevin laughed together, while Erica and Marsh exchanged looks and shook their heads. At their laughter, James looked back and noticed the motley crew, and began walking over.

"Erica!" he exclaimed, "I have the perfect set of ladies here for you to meet. I've got a civil rights lawyer who kayaks and skis, a CEO of a local DC non-profit for children, and a professional golfer, although come to think of it, she might be just a tad too butch for you, and she's blonde and it's always been my opinion that two blondes together is just trouble."

Erica laughed out loud at James and his match-making attempts. "Well, James, as much as I appreciate your efforts, which appear larger than you should have time for with this new restaurant, I'm here with someone tonight."

James regarded Marsh for the first time and turned back to Erica, "Ooh, I see." He nodded toward Marsh. "You're cute, what do you do?"

"I'm an entomologist, with the University of Maryland," Marsh replied proudly, seemingly not at all put off by James' blunt manner.

"Eww, like bugs and stuff?"

At this, Erica laughed and Marsh challenged, "What is it with you people, are you all scared of bugs?"

"No."

"No."

"No."

"Yes."

They all looked at James. "Whatever, I own a restaurant now, you should all be glad I don't like bugs."

Erica spoke up, "By the way, everything was great last week, I really loved it."

Marsh added, "This space is great. Did you travel to get some of this stuff?" She gestured to some of the decorations on the walls of the Asian inspired eatery.

"We did actually. My partner and I fell in love with Asian food while we taught out there years ago. Kevin and I have been friends since college, and he can actually cook, so we started the process of this place. Plus, it seemed like a good excuse to go back to China and write it off for work purposes," James explained.

"I like it, I thought it looked more authentic than usual," Marsh said. James tipped his head curiously and Marsh finished, "I spent some time in China and Tibet about 8 years ago. I love to travel, I get out of the country every chance I get."

"Well traveled and she compliments me. I think I approve of this one, Erica," James said, as he and Marsh monopolized the conversation. "Did that necklace come from somewhere exotic?"

Marsh fingered the silver pendant that hung at the hollow of her throat. She contemplated it for a minute while Erica looked on, curious herself. "It came from a silversmith in the Congo. I lived there for three years after college."

"I like that, a one of a kind," Kevin jumped in.

"Well, there were two of these made," she replied slowly, "but yeah, I like things that are unique, that are original."

Erica smiled, but found herself thinking about the implication of Kate's explanation, while Kate sarcastically jumped in with, "And that's why she likes Erica. Awww." She eyed the bar at the back of the building, "I'm going to go drink, who's with me?" And with that, Kate walked away before anyone could even answer.

"Well, we're going to go mingle. You two enjoy yourselves. And I suppose if you're ever in the market for a threesome, you know who to call," James said cheerfully, while being hit in the shoulder by Kevin. He shook his head apologetically as the two men excused themselves.

"Ok, I think I need a drink," Marsh said, fanning herself off. Erica laughed at the brunette's nervousness as they walked toward the bar.

"You're great, Marsh. They like you. And I like you a lot, so relax."

"Oh, I'm fine. Those guys seem great. Kate does make a little nervous though. It's the best friend thing, ya know?"

Erica had never really thought about Kate being her best friend, but as she thought about it, she realized that's exactly what Kate was. She also realized she hadn't had a best friend since she was a kid in New England. She began to contemplate just what kind of a friend Callie had been in her life, but stopped short. There was no use in trying to wrap her head around that situation tonight.

"Eh, Kate's all talk. It's what she does."

"Well, I certainly know that," Marsh laughed.

Erica turned to her date, "What do you mean?"

"The day I came into the hospital to ask you out, she met me first."

"Oh yeah, I remember that. She wasn't mean to you, was she?" Erica got nervous.

"Oh no," Marsh reassured. "She told me you liked me actually." She smirked.

"She what? I hadn't even . . . I can't believe she . . . Meddling little - "

"Hey!" Marsh grabbed Erica's hands, forcing the blonde to look at her. "I'm glad she did, I was beginning to chicken out."

Erica smiled and squeezed Marsh's hands back. "You're sweet. I'll have to thank her sometime," she added only somewhat sarcastically. "Besides, I suppose Laura did the same with me last week."

"What?" It was Marsh's turn to be surprised.

"Yeah, when her aunt came in, she gave me a little pep talk. Told me to go after you."

"Wow, we have a set of match making friends, don't we?"

"Yeah, we should be careful about letting them ever meet, I feel like they could do some damange," Erica laughed.

"I'd say so," Marsh agreed.

The two women enjoyed a glass of champagne, and then another, as they sat on high stools near the open air bar. Erica could feel her cheeks getting red, her muscles becoming loose. She was still constantly surprised at how comfortable she was getting out on these social adventures. Being a doctor at the top her field, Erica was used to dinners and banquets and the like, but those became more tedious as the years went on. Unless, of course, the event honored her. But sitting here with Marsh was easy, was comfortable and comforting. Erica felt her doctor persona safely across town in the hospital while she allowed herself to relax and enjoy this evening, this moment.

Marsh felt her knees becoming warm, an unfortunate side effect of drinking that had plagued her since high school. She also felt her tongue loosen up as she and Erica talked in the corner. She knew already that there was something about this woman that fit into her life. She had these little secrets and smiles and intricacies that kept bursting through. And so Marsh kept talking, telling stories, asking questions in order to draw these things out from Erica. And although they were mostly talking to each other at this point, Marsh really had a thing for a good party.

"I had a really good time today, so thanks again," Erica said, smiling like a little kid.

"Even though I know more than you about animals?" Marsh exclaimed in a sing song voice. She was beginning to understand which buttons of Erica's she could push to elicit the best responses from Erica. She suspected if she pushed any harder or brought up a different issue, Erica could be quite serious, but it was in Marsh's nature to push people; push them to their most honest, their best.

"Oh whatever. You were just showing off."

"Something you know nothing about, Dr. Hahn."

"Oh please don't call me that outside of the hospital. Or ever actually," Erica's face fell into a frown, but quickly rebounded. "You make me feel more like Erica, and I like that. If that makes any sense."

"It does and I'm glad. Did playing with monkeys make you feel more like Erica, Erica?" she asked giggling.

Erica stared into the distance thoughtfully as she pondered her past. "Definitely. We grew up near a fairly large zoo, my mom, brother and me. And she never had many days off, but when she did, she would take us there a lot. My brother was never as big of a nerd as me, but he loved animals. And so it was one place we would never fight, which we did quite often, he was only a year younger than me. Hell, that's probably why my mother brought us there, she got some peace and quiet, she got to relax," Erica said, realizing that she hadn't talked about her family to anyone other than Kate in a long time. She blushed just a little, "So yeah, the zoo is a good place for me."

"Well, lucky for us it's just down the street then," Marsh said, placing a hand on Erica's knee, tracing lazy circles. "So your mom and brother, are you still close to them?"

"Um, yes, actually. Well, as close as I can be with a career like mine. I've had to move all over and I always find my schedule running away on me, but yeah. My mother still lives up in New England, we talk a lot more than we see each other. And Aaron is a teacher in Boston, a music professor at BU actually, you two would get along," Erica said, just realizing the connection then.

"A cardio surgeon and a music professor! Two doctors, your mom must be proud."

"She is. Although, she'd probably be proud no matter what. She worked her ass off when we were kids just to make sure we survived to get to college. I think . . . that pushed my brother and I to work hard, to be the best, even though we went in completely opposite directions, professionally speaking." Erica nodded her head, thinking about her mother. She realized they hadn't talked in a while, and suddenly felt guilty.

"Ok, last prying personal question of the night, and then I'm done, I promise," Marsh said, hoping Erica was still ok with sharing. "Does your family know?"

Erica caught the brunette's drift. "Um . . . short answer, no. I told my mom the move to the east coast was purely professional and she was so happy that I would be closer, she didn't question it. My brother, on the other hand, knows I left because of a relationship debacle, but has only assumed the details," Erica said, adding after a beat, "because I never gave him any."

Erica waited for the speech. The 'well you need to tell them eventually' speech, the 'you'll be so much happier and relieved after you tell them' speech. But instead, Marsh only nodded, kept rubbing Erica's leg and said, "They sound like wonderful people, I'm sure if you ever decide you want to tell them, they would be supportive."

The truth was Erica had thought about telling them. She was closer to her small family than people would think, and her family had been nothing but loving and supportive of her for her entire life and when it came to loyalty, Erica Hahn was a master. A convenient time had simply not come up to spill the news, Erica decided. But the longer time went on, she had begun to realize there would be no perfect time. But as she sat here with Marsh though, she had a feeling the right time was quickly approaching. And instead of making her nervous, this thought made her excited, played upon those nerves that made her better rather than frightened.

"So what about your family? You mentioned they lived around here, but not much else," Erica inquired, not uneasy, but ready to discuss Marsh rather than herself.

"Yeah, they're scattered around the whole Baltimore/DC/Virginia area, and we're all pretty close. My parents live up in Baltimore, as does my oldest sister. They're retired schoolteachers, music and science, obviously, and my sister owns a bookstore in this cute neighborhood up there. My middle sister lives in Northern Virginia, she's a fancypants lawyer out of DC. Actually, her firm is located pretty close to your hospital. I wonder if that's a coincidence?" Marsh mused for a brief second. "And then there's me, the baby, the baby who plays with bugs."

"Wow, that sounds nice, that you're all close I mean."

"Yeah, I felt pretty far when we were down at Virginia Tech, but after Lisa and everything, I knew I needed to be closer to them. My family was . . . amazing with everything. My parents were just constantly there during the worst of it, at the beginning. And then my sisters, and Laura of course, started kicking my ass after I was still pretty depressed after a couple years or so," Marsh said honestly. She noticed Erica's concerned look and added, "It sounds tough, but it's what I needed. I grieved, I dealt with it, I did all the healthy things you're supposed to do, but I needed help just . . . getting back to the rest of the world. They were amazing."

"So you're family obviously knows about you then," Erica asked in a statement.

"Oh yeah. I came out early in college, had a few serious relationships before Lisa actually. My sisters were pretty quick to come around, my parents . . . took a much longer time. An Italian Catholic and Eastern European immigrant, not really the best for understanding the whole gay thing. But when I met Lisa and started to settle down, they really began accepting it. They grew to love her a lot, I was proud of them."

Erica nodded, not quite sure what to say. She had no doubt that Marsh was at a good place, that she was here with her willingly and enjoying whatever was beginning to build between them, but she still couldn't help being socially awkward around the subject of her date's past fiancé. Marsh noticed.

"Hey, I'm sorry if this is weird. I haven't dated anyone since . . . I guess I'm not sure what's appropriate . . ." she apologized.

"Hey. You're here with me tonight, right?"

"Yeah."

"And . . . you want this to go somewhere, right?"

"I do."

"And you're obviously comfortable moving somewhere physically, seeing as how you're hand has been inching up my leg for the past ten minutes," Erica said, her blush betraying her cool line of questioning.

Marsh smiled shyly, removing her hand, only to have Erica grab her and return it to exactly where it was.

"We all have our pasts. I certainly have one of my own. She . . . will always be a part of you, and I understand that. As long as you know you're in a spot to move forward, I am . . . fine with the fact that you have this past. And this hurdle that . . . you're still finishing the jump over." She covered Marsh's hand with her own and bit her lip. Marsh didn't think Erica could ever look shy, but at this moment she was unbelievably attracted to the emotion on Erica's face. "If you're willing to be patient with me and my crazy past, I am more than willing to help you move on from yours."

Marsh stared at the blonde for a couple beats. "You are amazing, Erica," she whispered, not wanting to say anymore for fear of being an emotional girl at this amazing party.

Erica leaned in close and whispered, "I know."

Marsh drew back, a smirk on her face as she shook her head back and forth. "And you're an ass."

Erica nodded, "I know!"

As they both took deep, cleansing breaths, breaking out of their emotional conversation, James and Kate wandered over and approached the two women.

"Ok, lovebirds, as sickeningly cute as you two are over here, it's time for shots," Kate said seriously, her face matching her tone.

"Yup, come on, it's mine and Kate's tradition," James added.

Erica looked weary as Marsh's expression lit up. "I don't know," Erica said, already feeling fairly tipsy off the champagne she had been drinking all night.

"Oh come on," Marsh and Kate said at the same time.

"Ha, you're girlfriend is tougher than you, Erica. Are you going to let that happen?" Kate pushed, knowing Erica too well.

"Of course not," Erica said as she got up off her stool, happy to hear the word girlfriend even though she knew it was too early and that Kate was only being facetious.

"Yay," Marsh and James said at the same time.

The three women waited as James went behind the bar and lined up shots of tequila, limes and a couple of salt shakers. Erica picked up one of the glasses, preparing herself for the shot.

"Oh wait, there's one more rule," Kate said, stopping Erica.

"Yeah," James added, as if it was obvious. "They have to be body shots."

Marsh smiled entirely wider than she wanted to as Erica challenged, "Oh come on, what are we, drunken frat boys?"

"No, but you learn early on that body shots are the best way to get those drunken frat boys into bed," James admitted.

"Agreed," Kate added, thinking about her slightly post college husband.

"Come on Erica, it'll be painless, I promise," Marsh said, her voice leading Erica to see just how sexy this woman could be. She was staring suggestively at Erica, and suddenly the blonde found herself getting hotter, despite the fact that she had yet to drink the liquor.

"Ok, just in case you old ladies have forgotten how these go, we'll go first," James said as he licked Kate's neck and applied the salt. He licked it off, took the shot and ate the lime that was perched between Kate's teeth. She quickly reciprocated in an act that looked entirely too well rehearsed. How Kate had failed to mention that she was a fan of dirty tequila shots with her brother's gay business partner, Erica didn't know. But at this moment, she was laughing at the sight.

"Alright, my turn!" Marsh exclaimed.

She took the salt shaker in her hand and coaxed Erica's mouth open, placing a sliver of lime, rind first, between the blonde's waiting lips. She took a deep breath and licked a long line up her neck. Erica tipped her head to the side and shivered as Marsh shook a little salt onto her wet skin. Marsh then trailed her mouth up the blonde's salty neck, pressing down with her tongue, the rough, wet sensations making Erica go a little weak. She drew back, downed the shot expertly, and went in for the lime. She captured the fruit slowly, making sure to let her lips linger just in front of Erica's before sucking the sour juice into her mouth.

"Wooo, damn girls," James exclaimed, breaking the spell and making Marsh laugh. Erica, however, was still reeling a little. She shook her head, not to be outdone at anything, and grabbed the other salt shaker purposefully, never breaking eye contact with the sexy brunette.

"Alright," she said, dropping her voice down into that husky range she knew made people weak in their knees. If anyone knew their strengths, it was most assuredly Erica Hahn. "My turn."

Marsh smiled, finding herself being backed into the bar by a now standing Erica. She willingly put a piece of lime in her mouth and waited. Erica wasted no time leaning down and licking the brunette's neck, but as she neared Marsh's ear, she let her tongue flick over Marsh's earlobe, just briefly, causing Marsh to buck just a bit. Marsh's head fell to the side after that, and Erica sprinkled salt, her index finger tapping the glass bottle in a slow, drawn out rhythm. Marsh couldn't believe that Erica was managing to turn her on like this in the middle of public, with people watching.

Erica leaned in again, licking the salt up, at the same time, placing one of her hands on Marsh's hip and squeezing. She let her hand linger at the brunette's side, kneading the flesh under her dress as she threw back the shot with the other hand. When she went in to take the lime, she let her lips caress Marsh's, but drew back as the brunette leaned into it. They continued to stare at each other, looks of lust laced in challenge floating between them. Both would have it no other way.

"Wow. I kind of want to date you now, Erica," Kate blurted out, leading Erica to shake her head.

"I know, Kate, but then you're boy toy would be so sad."

"Yeah, you're right. Plus, if I dated you, I'd start to miss his - "

"Okay!" Marsh and Erica halted that statement together.

"Massages! Damn, you girls are dirty."

"No, they just need to get out of here and get it on," James said, bringing on a blush all around.

"Actually," Erica said, "That doesn't sound half bad. But because it is late and I have surgeries tomorrow, unlike some people. I should go get some sleep."

Kate replied, "Eh, I called in a favor from the chief. I plan on being hung-over tomorrow, thank you very much. But I'm glad you came, Erica. You too, Miss Marsh."

"It was a pleasure, thanks for the invite. Tell your brother thank you too." Kevin had disappeared with some other friends a while ago.

"For the both of us," Erica added.

They quartet hugged as Erica and Marsh made their way toward the door. They were both sufficiently buzzed as they held hands, the fire between them having nothing to do with the tequila. They quickly hailed a cab and started the short trip back to their neighborhood.

"Hey Erica?"

"Yeah."

"Are you really going to sleep right now?"

She looked over at Marsh and smirked in that way she had perfected as well as any surgery over the years, "Of course not."

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**Hooray for cliffhangers! Don't hate me though, the next updates will hopefully come more quickly than these have. Hope you're still enjoying, let me know if you are!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Title: Heart Bugs - Chapter Eight  
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**Pairing: Erica/OC**

**Rating: M from here on out.  
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**Summary: Marsh and Erica can't seem to find any privacy.  
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**Disclaimer: I do not own Grey's Anatomy, nor any of the characters in it. Everything in this story is fictional and I am not making a profit from this.**

**A/N: Sorry for the long time between updates, started a new job recently and haven't had time for anything. Good news is the next two chapters are pretty much written, just need to edit and finalize. Hope you enjoy!**

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"At the risk of sounding intrusive, is there any reason we've never met or gone back to your place?" Erica asked as she and Marsh stepped out of the taxi in front of her rowhouse, both more than a little tipsy.

Marsh grabbed Erica's hand, impatient for contact with the blonde as they walked. "Because I'm incredibly considerate and always come to you?" Marsh joked as they reached Erica's front porch.

"Hmm, why don't I quite believe that?" She narrowed her eyes and stared at the brunette, trying hard not to crack a smile.

"Because it's not true. Well it _is_, I am considerate and on our first date, I did want to walk over, but it's not the reason I haven't invited you over yet. And please don't think it has anything to do with you, it's just that you seem so - "

"And here I was thinking we were getting to a place where you weren't nervously ranting all the time," Erica laughed.

"I'm messy," Marsh interjected.

"You're messy? That's it?" Erica replied slowly, not quite understanding.

"I'm really messy. Well, not usually, but between getting ready to submit this paper and the hurt arm thing, I haven't made cleaning a priority. And you're so orderly and neat, I wanted to make sure everything was perfect before I invited you over," Marsh admitted sheepishly.

"You're crazy, you know that right?"

"Yeah, but I think you like it," Marsh answered, relaxing again.

Erica paused briefly, considering how many of her secrets to give up right away. In her fairly inebriated state, she decided she could let one slide. "Wanna know a secret?" The brunette nodded. "I have a housecleaning service."

Marsh laughed, "Really?"

"Hell yeah, it was the first thing I did when I became an attending. I barely have time to keep myself clean, let alone a whole house."

Marsh pulled Erica even closer to her in the late spring night, wrapping her arms around the woman's waist, thinking to herself it took a special pair of people to drunkenly cuddle over house cleaning. "Well," she drew the word out, "I think I just might like a dirty Erica better anyhow."

Erica relaxed into Marsh's embrace. It was so easy, she thought to herself. To relax, to let go, to connect to this woman. With Callie, the friendship had come first, the ease had been built slowly, but it was the relationship that made things complicated. She hadn't expected to connect to someone again, especially on the level of being in a comfortable relationship again. But this felt good, it felt right to Erica, and she suspected it was the same for Marsh. She was still nervous, this sort of thing didn't come easily to her per se, but she knew this was as easy as it was going to get.

"Hey space case, are you going to kiss me or just stand there staring? Not that I mind, I know I'm kind of cute and - "

Erica shut her up with a kiss. A kiss with more emotion behind it than any of their others had. She brought her hands up to Marsh's shoulders and ran them up and down the brunette's toned arms. Marsh used her tongue to explore Erica's mouth, smoothly running it over teeth, lips, tasting this woman she couldn't get enough of. They broke briefly for air before crashing into each other again. Their kisses were deep, they were hungry, they spoke of relieving the tension that had been building up all night.

Marsh wasted no time in snaking her hands along Erica's stomach and reaching up to brush her breasts. She lightly ran her thumbs over Erica's nipples, causing the blonde to moan into her mouth. The air was beginning to cool in the late spring evening, but neither woman noticed as they continued to get hotter. They pulled apart briefly and Marsh spent more than a second considering the woman in front of her. She smiled and cocked her head to the side, feeling lucky and more than a little turned on.

"Erica," she whispered.

"Yeah?" Erica replied, little more than a low, throaty noise.

"Do you have nice neighbors?"

"Why?" Erica asked, already suspecting the answer.

"Because they're staring at us right now." Marsh said, knowing she was blushing brightly in the darkness.

Erica turned around slowly and met the smiling eyes of David and Craig.

"Hi Erica," David said knowingly, as Craig waved at the two women.

"Hey guys," Erica waved back, embarrassed at being caught making out like a teenager twice in one weekend.

"Having a good night?" they asked, utterly enjoying this situation.

"Uh, yeah," Erica said, disentangling herself from Marsh's embrace. She put her hand on the brunette's back. "This is my, um, this is . . . Marsh, Dr. Strav, Dr. Marcia Stravinsky."

The two men laughed at a flustered Erica Hahn. "Well, have a good night you two. Maybe you'd like to come over sometime for dinner?" David asked.

"That is, if you make it out of your bedroom anytime in the next week," Craig added, before dodging David's hand which was currently aiming to slap him.

"Yeah, yes. That sounds very nice. I'll be in touch."

She quickly threw the key in the lock and burst through her front door, dragging Marsh behind her. The two women fell back against the front door and Marsh began giggling furiously. Erica tried to hold it together, but the champagne and shots got the best of her.

"Um, why do we keep getting walked in on?"

"Maybe because I'm too sexy and you can't keep your hands off me in public?" Marsh replied and Erica smiled. "Do they even know you're gay?"

"Well, they do now."

They began laughing again as they looked at one another. Seemingly realizing they were now indoors, out of public, they turned to each other with ferocious eyes and it was all over. Marsh practically leapt at Erica, pinning her against the door. She began kissing and licking along Erica's neck, causing the blonde to moan loudly. Her fingers danced along the edge of where Erica's shirt met her pants, and although Erica was sometimes ticklish, at that moment all she could feel was fire.

Marsh pulled back to look at the blonde, gauge her reaction before moving any further. In those eyes, she saw desire, she saw trust. And so Marsh, without breaking eye contact, pulled the sweater off of Erica's shoulders and immediately moved her hands behind Erica's back to unzip her sleek black dress. Wrapping her arms around the back of the blonde, she brought her close, pulled her face within inches of her own. But instead of going in for the kiss, Marsh simply hovered, teasingly pulling her head away whenever Erica moved to kiss her.

"Uhh," Erica whimpered, needing the brunette's lips on hers.

"So impatient, Dr. Hahn," Marsh barely whispered as she pulled strap of the offending dress off Erica's one shoulder, and then the other. She kissed all along her bare chest, shimmying the dress past Erica's black lacy bra, past her pale, flat stomach, and finally past her matching black panties and off her legs.

Erica, true to her essential nature, became more bold as she felt more uncertain. "I thought I told you not to call me Dr. Hahn," she strung together, as she slowly realized she was standing in her living room, in a bra, underwear and heels. Her skin felt hot, pinpricks of sensation spreading with the flush across her pale skin.

"And what are you going to do about it?" Marsh smirked, relishing the game playing with the blonde.

Erica's eyes narrowed and she took one giant step toward Marsh, immediately embracing the woman, one arm pulling her at the waist, the other supporting her neck. She quickly leaned in, tilting her head toward Marsh's, and brought her lips within millimeters of the brunette's. And there she stopped. Marsh was frozen waiting for Erica's lips, and her breath caught when Erica didn't follow through. She could feel Erica's even breaths heating up the space between them. She lunged for those pink lips and Erica moved backward.

"Erica," she whined, nearly breathless as the blonde smirked. "Please."

At this, she captured Marsh's lips with her own and reached down to the hem of the brown dress still separating their bodies from touching. She bunched it between her surgeon's fingers and pulled upward, pulling it over Marsh's head in a matter of moments. The two women met again, skin against skin for the first time and they both moaned at the sensation.

Before she knew what was happening Marsh was pushing Erica backward until the blonde felt the edge of her plush, brown couch behind her. They both kicked off their shoes as Marsh fell on top of Erica as the pair descended, eyes never leaving eyes, lips never leaving lips. Professional titles and personas were pushed aside as the two adult women started pawing at each other like inexperienced teenagers. Hands neared bras and backed away; both women were turned on, were emotional, but still both nervous, tentative. The hesitation only served to amp up the tension, the air practically cracking with anticipation.

Marsh's knees burned up when she drank and when she was aroused and at that moment she was on fire. Erica could feel a thin sheen of sweat developing across her chest as she continued to explore Marsh's lips, her neck, her earlobe. The sounds between them were growing, relieved to be out of public, away from possible walk-ins. Although, at the pace things were going, Erica's neighbors might be able to hear them anyway.

Marsh concentrated on the simple, because that was what was most vivid to her, laying there above the blonde. She had had a handful of nights with women since Lisa, but those had been quick and fleeting, a means to an end of relieving sexual frustration. Here, however, the simple texture of Erica's skin, the awareness of the only boundaries being Erica's underwear and bra, the slight smell of sandalwood behind her ears were overwhelming for Marsh. The intellectual, emotional and seemingly easy build up between the two of them over the past few weeks had energized Marsh into being ready for this, into being ready connect with someone again, to be able to physically let someone in.

Erica's hands danced across Marsh's lean back. They played at the waistband of her underwear, fingers grazing the area and retreating. She applied firm touches and then featherlight brushes alternatively, effectively making Marsh buck. She knew her own underwear was beginning to dampen as she laid underneath the brunette, her weight resting comfortably on Erica. The surgeon thought briefly about her career, her persona at the hospital in juxtaposition to the carnal desires being met currently. To the effect that Erica Hahn was intelligent, she of course understood the value of meeting sexual needs in order to achieve maximum physical and mental health. Although in the heat of her and Marsh's late spring frenzy, those thoughts were only coming to her as flashes of light behind her eyes and heat in her gut.

Suddenly, amidst the licks and groans and scrapes, Marsh lifted herself up, supporting her weight on her hands, and looked down at Erica.

"Is everything alright," Erica asked, suddenly concerned. She reached up and tucked some stray curly bangs behind Marsh's ear.

Marsh regained her breath for a moment and focused her attention on the stunning blonde. "If I lay here on top of you for just another minute, with you doing all that you're doing to my underwear back there, I'm going to take you right here on the couch." Erica raised an eyebrow. "Which I wouldn't mind in the least, but I need to know that you're ready. It's . . . been a while for me, but I know it's still new for you."

Marsh was right, this was still new for Erica. She and Callie had pushed boundaries, trampled through those first fields of lesbian exploration together. But those nights were brief, the time spent as a non-couple even more so. Had Callie not panicked and ran back to men, Erica knew she would have been ready to take that physical relationship to the next amazing level, but still that had never happened. And so as she laid there, mostly nude, under this thrilling, gorgeous woman, she knew she was ready for the next step, but perhaps only in theory.

"Damnit, Marsh. I . . . know I'm ready. I also know that I'm a little drunk. And a little nervous," she admitted, catching her own breath. "I'm not sure that I care all that much about the last two of those though," she added.

Marsh chuckled atop the blonde, "Well, how bout this. I have a huge presentation tomorrow. And . . . when we do this for the first time I want to be able to bring you breakfast in bed the next morning."

"You cook?"

"I cook. And so . . . as good as this is right now, and as hard as it is to leave you - "

The sound of Erica's pager filled the mostly silent room. Marsh looked around confused, and Erica moaned out loud, a different kind of moan than she had been emitting all night.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me," Erica said.

"What is it?"

"I'm being paged." She grudgingly got up and checked the pager in her bag. "It's an emergency. I . . . have to go. I'm sorry."

"Do you believe in fate? Destiny, all that?"

"I'm a doctor, so of course not. But you do, right," Erica said, with a smile big enough to tell Marsh there would be more to her answer if she asked again sometime.

"I might," Marsh said, "I'm not some crazy hippie though. Just can't help noticing all the little things in life that happen, that fit, that seem to make sense."

She looked up at Erica sweetly, and Erica took a moment before gathering her stuff together to leave. She sat on the couch and took Marsh's hands, looking at her and truly wondering what to say. Whether she wanted it or not, she was on the path to something with this woman. For the most part, she enjoyed it, she was relishing the entire experience. But on some level, some very Dr. Hahn level, she was terrified, and putting it into words only made it more tangible.

"I . . . haven't believed in much, much more than medicine, in a long time, to be honest. But . . . but things have been changing for me out here. In all kinds of ways. And . . . and I think . . . I'm more than ready for that." Erica paused just once more, "And you, Marsh, are really making me believe in all sorts of things again."

* * *

Erica trudged into the hospital in a mood she would hardly call sparkling. She had spent the hours after after the emergency came through thinking about the brunette. But not in the overly worrisome way she was expecting after they cut their hot and heavy session short. Usually when she wandered around or stayed awake thinking for hours, it was bad. It had happen on countless nights after Callie, after moving back east. But tonight was different; she sat there faintly smiling, pondering her situation. And while the smiling was nice for a while, after getting paged on no sleep after a long day, Erica was ticked.

She was now getting ready to perform emergency surgery on a young woman who had crashed her car while driving home from college. She was briefed on the case by Dr. Benson as she walked through some double doors, and immediately thought of Marsh and her deceased partner. She was still processing everything having to do with that situation, and this certainly put it at the front of Erica's mind again. She was fairly certain she could deal with it after everything was said and done, but it didn't mean it wouldn't be a big hurdle. She would play this one by ear.

As Erica turned the corner to approach the scrub room, she heard voices. Voices that grew louder and louder by the second. No one except the nurses and a couple of on-call residents should have been there, even with the accident. She expected a solid third year to be assisting her momentarily.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me," Erica said as she reached the scrub room door, looking in to see her two senior cardio residents toe to toe, screaming at each other. She immediately threw open the door, more furious than before.

"What the hell is going on here?" Erica demanded.

"He tricked some poor young nurse into trading surgery information for a date. What a - " Sydney said, the pathos sarcastically dripping from her voice.

"She's just going around intimidating first years into giving up their shifts when something good comes it. It's fucking - " Jake uncharacteristically cursed.

"I am legitimately on call right now. This surgery is mine and you know it."

"Bullshit. I was here already, I scrubbed in first, and - "

"That's enough!" Erica practically screamed, instantly ending all other arguments. "Both of you stop, now!" She paused to decide how best to yell at her residents. It was moments like these that she hated being a teacher, hated being responsible for other people's mistakes, their incompetence. She didn't want to be responsible for creating surgeons who were less than. And in this moment, that's all she could see. She knew somewhere in the back of her brain that these were two intelligent, promising surgeons, but here was the issue. They could be reduced to ridiculous, bumbling idiots in the face of the smallest challenge. And that was specifically what defined great surgeons: the big cases, the hardest problems, the most severe emergencies. She took a deep breath.

"So I ask you two to be better surgeons, to prove something to me. Something I haven't seen yet. You both can cut, you can sew, your medicine is nearly perfect. What I wanted from each of you was something more, something different, don't you understand that? And this? This is not it. This is so far from . . . that's it, get out, both of you, now."

Sydney and Jake stared at her incredulously, faces melting from anger to shock to guilt, pure guilt. They both knew to not say another word. They looked briefly at each other, not accusatory anymore, but both silently remorseful of the opportunity they had just lost. They didn't even manage to mumble an apology as they walked past Erica, out of the scrub room.

Erica leaned against the sink edge, fingers gripping the metal and dropped her head. She breathed in and out slowly, and wondered to herself if this was her fault. Maybe she shouldn't be pitting her two senior residents against each other. Perhaps that was one step too far. The Double D's were good friends beyond being fellow residents. They had studied together, worked closely over the past five years and Erica had always admired their working and personal relationship. To hear Jake using language like that had really thrown Erica off. She thought about telling her residents that they were both going to the conference in Vegas anyway.

But that thought didn't last too long. Contest or not, this behavior was inappropriate. If she was going to have surgeons taking their boards, with her as their mentors, they were going to be strong, inside the OR and out. If they were weaker doctors, Erica wouldn't have even been wasting her time, but she really thought she saw something different in these two. She was determined to see it through at this point, even if that meant sending them home at 2am after they had weaseled their way into the emergency surgery in the first place.

Erica cracked her neck, took just one more deep breath, and began to scrub her hands in preparation for very serious surgery that awaited her.

* * *

Monday morning found Marsh equally as tired as Erica. As she rushed around her living room, collecting her laptop, brown leather bag, and travel mug of industrial grade espresso, she realized her place wasn't as messy as she had made it seem the previous night.

_Great, _she thought_, now Erica probably thinks I'm some sort of closet slob._

Erica did make her nervous, if Marsh was being honest with herself. It was partially out of adorable admiration for who Erica was, both professionally and personally. Erica was strong, out there in who she was and what she wanted. She was intelligent and sharp, confident about her mind and heart. Marsh knew that the latter might have only been found recently, but she found it even more endearing that she might be the first person Erica had truly wanted to seemingly commit to. Erica was aggressive in a subtle way that Marsh appreciated. There was a beautiful softness to every hard and fast decision Erica made.

Marsh was also nervous conditionally. The lingering memory of her marriage floated through her brain occasionally, although not as much as she thought it would have at this point. Maybe it was because Erica was strong enough to create her own, new niche in Marsh's world. Marsh decided to adopt this thought because it allowed Lisa to have her own place in Marsh's heart, while allowing Erica to move in freely.

In terms of sheer logistics, it had also been a while since Marsh had dated. She had always been a gentle and balanced person, able to communicate and bond easily and quickly. But this time around she noticed the nerves, the stumbles, the startlingly high number of blushes per interaction. She cut herself some slack, mostly because everything was going so well despite her rustiness at the game. To this end, Marsh also thought she and Erica might just be balanced with the right amount of nervousness, excitement, and awkwardness to make their relationship mesh just right in the dating department.

These thoughts, and probably a thousand others, flooded her head on the Metro ride to the University. If she put a little more perspective on the total situation, this presentation was not the biggest, nor the most important she had ever made, but she was still nervous. Such was her nature. While the outdoor boating and frequent trips abroad made her career alternative and in touch with the simpler things, her motivation was still sharp and strong. She fought for the simple, the basics of life with everything she had, and that, she realized, was true inside the University and out. She always got a little nervous before talks, if only because she wanted to, needed to impress upon her audience the seriousness of her environmental endeavors, of her conservation research.

And there was also the issue that her lab director was stepping down and she was finishing a major research project, a situation that might leave her taking on a lot more responsibility or instead moving on to the next University, the next organization that needed her skills. But she was not the type to dwell on this. Early in life, she had learned about impermanence, about adaptation. She had been thrown her fair share of curveballs in life, and her survival thus far gave her unquestionable optimism about her ability to deal with anything else that the universe could throw her way. So whatever came next would come, and not only would she deal with it, she would thrive within it, that's just who Marcia Stravinsky was.

* * *

Erica heard the grumbling before she head the door open as she looked up from her rolling chair in her office. Kate barged in and instantly fell into one of the chairs in front of Erica's desk. She threw her legs over the side and let her head fall backward.

"Uggghhhhh," she let go.

"I really need a secretary," Erica pondered out loud. "Or maybe a security guard. One with pepper spray and - "

"Please be quiet. I am hungover. I am in no condition to be awake in the daylight, let alone in a hospital," Kate said, barely above a whisper. She picked her head up and looked Erica bleakly in the eyes. "But noooo. I have to have stupid interns. Stupid general surgery interns who think it's ok to page me 911 here just because they are too incompetent to diagnose appendicitis on their own! Appendicitis!"

Erica didn't try to hide the smirk on her face nor try to stop the laughter that bubbled up just after that.

"Bitch."

"Um, whose idea was it to go out and party on a Sunday night and then take questionable shots off of other people?"

"My brother's crazy partner!" Kate replied honestly. "That jerk has always been a bad influence on me."

"Kate, I thought you were older than both of them," Erica asked, "Like, by five years?"

"Oh who asked you anyway," Kate conceded. "By the way, we're going kayaking this weekend," she added non-chalantly.

Erica put on her best "excuse me" face and raised her eyebrows toward her best friend. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Well, I want to go kayaking this weekend, and I need someone else to suck at it with me," she said as though it should be obvious to Erica. "You could bring your new girl toy."

"First of all, what makes you think I suck at kayaking? And secondly, no."

"Why not?"

"Because I think she might have had enough exposure to you already. Plus, that would just be weird and third-wheely to one of you."

"Um, I think she was enjoying the body shots just as much as I was, honey," Kate was sitting upright, quite involved in the conversation at this point. "And have her bring a friend too. What about the chick whose mother you saved."

"Laura. And it was her aunt," Erica filled in. "But wait, why all these plans? What are you up to? Because I like you, I've grown to really like you, but meddling I don't think I could handl - "

"You talk a lot, Erica. I feel like you were more stoic in another lifetime. Go back to that," Kate said, her mood light. "In all honesty, Josh and I put a deposit down on a cabin and kayak gear for the weekend, but he got roped into working for some dumb nurse who had to go and have a baby. A girls' weekend sounds fun. And I don't want to lose the deposit."

"Aw, Kate, you're so sweet. You're an attending general surgeon at Georgetown, a well compensated position - "

"Yes, darling, but I also grew up just south of fucking nowhere in Alabama, and am an admitted penny pincher," she laughed. "And one day, I will write you a letter from poolside in Florida while you wither away in some second rate nursing home while you wrestle with some orderly who can't hit a vein to save his life and eat chicken cordon bleu every Tuesday because you never saved."

"I happen to love chicken cordon bleu. And you're an asshole," Erica said matter of factly. "I'll ask Marsh," she quickly added.

"Love you Erica," Kate said, as she got up to fall out the door once more.

"Still an asshole, Kate."

* * *

"Good job Dr. S.!"

"Thanks Harris. Feels good to see it all come together," Marsh answered.

Her presentation Monday morning had gone perfectly. In retrospect, after these things, Marsh always wondered why she would get so nervous, but in actuality she knew it was just the way she was. This morning had been about showing her own lab and a few interested colleagues her most recently completed project before the published paper would come out the following month. Her questions were interesting, her research was flawless and the analysis poignant and relevant. And when it came to public speaking, Marsh was nervous but a natural. She had a grounded personality that made it easy to connect to whomever she was speaking to, whether it was a couple of students eager to learn or a room full of scientists for a conference. She had nailed it and she knew it.

While collecting her materials and answering last minute questions from her colleagues and students, Marsh commended herself on leaving the dirty thoughts behind. For the actual presentation at least. She had woken up that morning covered in a thin sheen of sweat, brought on by a dream that had continued what she and Erica had started earlier that night. She had thought about taking care of herself if only to relieve the incredible amount of tension that had built up between her legs. But in the end, she decided she wanted to wait. Wait for Erica's touch, wait for Erica's hands and mouth to bring her what Marsh was certain would be a much more satisfying release.

However, that decision had caused a certain amount of discomfort as Marsh took her morning shower, during her commute to the university, and as she was setting up the tech part of her presentation. She had managed to turn off the dirty thoughts for an hour or so, but now that the stress of the talk was over, those flashes of last night were starting to return full force.

"So what's next for you Dr. S.? Are you going to continue the stream project, or move into more wetlands centered work?"

"Ya know, I'm not sure. I liked working on small streams, but at the end of this I ended up with a lot of questions about larger bodies. I may want to see about funding for a project on the Chesapeake. Maybe tackle insect indicator species or something like that," Marsh said excitedly. She had truly found an area of research that made her beam. "But, I guess I'm just not sure whether I'm going to have the opportunity to do that here or . . . I just don't know."

Harris looked across the room at their retiring director who was gathering up his things to leave. "Yeah, we don't really know what's going to happen to us either. It's pretty out of the ordinary for Smith to be leaving when he still has grad students to advise."

"Yeah, I have a feeling something else is going on, but in all honesty, I've been too busy to be supportive enough to get any details."

"Too busy getting hot and heavy with that blonde," Harris waggled his eyebrows.

"Her name is Erica. And yes," she laughed.

"Well, we'll figure it out. These things always seem to work themselves out, right Dr. S.?"

"They usually do, Harris," she answered. "Have a good day kid, I'm off to the city." Marsh slipped out of the room and walked down the hallway.

"Have fun with Erica, Dr. S."

She smiled wide, her back to the young, well-rounded grad student.

* * *

At the sound of her cell phone, Erica awoke from a nap she had accidentally been taking at her desk. She looked around as she came to, automatically wiping a little bit of drool away that had pooled at the corner of her lip.

"Shit, ugh," she moaned quietly, looking down at her cell. She smiled reactively seeing the name, flipping the phone open to answer it.

"I just want to let you know that I am exhausted, frustrated, and restless because of you." Erica was not one to be content with a simple hello.

"Good afternoon, Erica. I missed you too. And my presentation went spectacularly this morning, thanks for asking," she lightly laughed on the other end of the phone.

"I'm sorry. I think I just passed out at my desk, it's been a long day. I'm glad about your presentation, I knew you'd be fine."

"Mm hmm, I'm sure. Anyway . . . I was wondering if you wanted to get together tonight . . . maybe a movie, dinner, minus the movie, plus some wine, minus some clothing," Marsh practiced being bold.

"That sounds," Erica paused, "really wonderful. But unfortunately, I still have two surgeries to go tonight. They were bumped back by the emergencies this morning."

"Hey, no problem. Tomorrow night?"

"I'm on call," Erica frowned. "And Thursday I have to teach up in Baltimore." Erica reacted to the silence she heard on the other end. "And this is where you start to have serious regrets about trying to date a surgeon."

Marsh jumped in quickly, "No, no, no. It's fine Erica, really. I get the whole busy, high-powered, you're so important that everybody wants you kind of schedule. It's kind of hot actually."

Erica hoped Marsh was being serious on the other end of the phone. She knew what kind of stress her schedule put on her own life, and that of friends and former partners in the past. It certainly was enough of an issue to cause problems if it wasn't handled carefully.

"Ok, so I know this isn't ideal, I'd certainly rather see you sooner, but what are you up to this weekend?"

"Nothing actually, I have classes during the week, but now that this is done, I can relax for a little while."

"Great. Want to come on a kayaking trip with Kate and I?" Erica said, her inflection suggesting that she knew the idea was a little spur of the moment, that a weekend trip might be a little quick for the new couple.

"Umm . . . well, the idea of Kate in the wilderness intrigues me just as much as it scares me, so I think I have to say yes," Marsh laughed.

"I know! I'm more than a little nervous, but I figure I can handle any medical emergency that may come up, and you're an outdoors girl, maybe we can all somehow survive," Erica said sarcastically. "Also, the cabin sleeps four, so maybe you'd like to invite Laura. Or someone else if you want."

"Oh damn. And I was really hoping this was just a ploy to have a threesome and bring Kate over to the dark side."

Erica laughed out loud, "Um, ew. Just, no. She's making me go, and I want to see you," Erica said simply.

"You know what this means, don't you?"

"Uh, no."

Erica momentarily panicked, wondering what kind of lesbian, or even just relationship, rules she had violated. Was it inviting her along with friends? Was it waiting a week to see her after their almost sex the night before. Before she could go any further, Marsh picked up on the uncertainty the blonde was communicating silently over the phone, and jumped in to relieve her.

"I'm teaching you about insects!"

"Gross. I mean, great!" Erica said with just the right amount of sarcasm. She really wanted to know about Marsh, wanted to understand her passions better. "One thing though. No spiders, I hate spiders. They just make me . . . no spiders. Please."

"Well, that's fine. Since spiders aren't insects anyway."

"Smartass."

"Not really, and you love it."

Erica smiled at that. She was really beginning to.

* * *

Tuesday came and went and Wednesday drifted by as Erica prepared to sit on call the whole night. Nothing emergent had come in by 8pm, for which she was grateful as a person, but resentful for as a doctor. None-the-less, she decided to grab a few hours of sleep on the sufficiently large couch in her office. As she drifted off, her thoughts bounced around between a short blonde with a large, intimidating kayak, a certain brunette with captivating hazel eyes, and her two residents who were still fighting that evening. The good and bad played upon her neurons as her conscious mind fired between pleasure and pain. The past few weeks fluttered behind her eyelids as she drifted off to sleep.

_Erica feels a fluttering tongue on the inside of her thighs. She stands against a blank wall in a darkened room. A tongue deftly dances on the inside of her long legs, tracing small, soft patterns all the way up and down, back and forth, leg to leg. She knows she desperately wants the mouth to move up toward her center, but for now she is content with this simple touch, this simple, but growing pleasure. She throws her head back in response to the light but insistent pressure that pulses on the muscles inside those thighs.  
_

_She looks down and sees the brunette kneeling before her, wearing devilishly black panties and a matching bra, looking up occasionally and smiling a grin that stands miles from her sweet gestures she has flashed Erica across tables and desks. Her hands grip Erica's waist as she continues to slowly journey from the inside of Erica's knees up along the taught skin of her thighs.  
_

_Erica unconsciously lets one hand wander to the mess of brown curls beneath her, tangling her hand up in the brunette's hair. She looks up and meets Erica's cool blue eyes with her own and smiles. It is a sensual smile, a look laced with pure lust and a confidence that screams 'trust me.' The notion that Erica can relax into this, that she can close her eyes, let go and let this woman touch her, take care of her, love her only serves to heighten Erica's arousal as she leans against the wall. She spreads her legs wider, trying to keep her balance steady as her analytical mind fades, replaced by pure bursts of warm sensation as the brunette takes Erica's open legs as an invitation to –  
_

Knock, knock, knock.

"What the - "

Erica sat up on her couch, shook her head and took a moment to get her bearings. One would think that after years of working in hospitals and constantly living the on-call lifestyle, she would have gotten used to the idea of waking up suddenly without being confused. But Erica was convinced that any situation wherein you had to grab sleep whenever and wherever you could, also meant that when you fell out, you fell out hard. And so waking up from that near coma was always unpleasant and most often a surprise.

She walked to her door, wondering why someone had dared knock on her door rather than page her. _If this is those moron residents_, she thought to herself.

"Hi!" Marsh said, standing at the door, looking adorable but nervous.

"Um, hi," Erica replied, the a smile slowly replacing the confusion she wore on her face.

Marsh noticed the sleepy look in Erica's eyes and instantly frowned. "Oh no, you were sleeping. Of course you were sleeping, you're on call, that's what you do, you sleep until someone needs you and I just interrupted that. I just figured maybe you were hungry, I heard this rumor that doctors never eat, but well, you're a heart doctor, so I figured you're probably better than most, but still . . ."

Erica's small smile had steadily grown into a wide grin during Marsh's explanation which had ended in her holding out two large bags of food. For some reason this time, be it her sleepy state, or the remnants of the dream she was rudely woken up from, Erica was content to let Marsh ramble. She honestly thought it was cute. In an intern, she would have despised it; in this woman standing before her, she loved it.

"Oh, ok, you just think I'm crazy," Marsh noted Erica's goofy expression. "I'm not crazy, I just though - "

Erica stopped her this time, ushering her into the office onto the still warm couch. "I don't think you're crazy. Right now I am thinking two things. One, you might have just woken me up from the sexist dream I've ever had. And two," her eyes turned with fire toward Marsh, "I'm hungry."

Marsh finally relaxed and a smile turned into a smirk. "Well that's great. Because I brought lots of food."

Erica held the brunette's glare, innuendo hanging heavily in the air. Erica loved that this woman seemed her equal. Professionally, emotionally, teasingly, Marsh pushed Erica in a way that Erica was happy to accept as a challenge, happy to have the chance to better herself. Marsh was romantic, Erica reveled at the thought of planning impressive dates again. Marsh was intelligent, Erica wanted to learn more about everything the brunette studied. Marsh was solid, stable following a tragedy; Erica wanted to prove to herself, prove to this amazing woman sitting in front of her that she could open her heart up again, that she too, after everything she had been through in her life, was capable of falling in love.

Erica suddenly broke into a full smile and laughed heartily. "Well, let's eat!"

Marsh broke out of the spell and began opening bags. "Ok, so there's all kinds of sushi in this one. I got a lot of sashimi, and eel and salmon, and then I thought, maybe she only likes rolls, and maybe she doesn't eat raw fish, so there are some cooked ones in there."

She moved on to the second bag, distracted by the containers she was pulling out and setting on the table in front of her. "And then I thought, wait she might not like sushi at all, I mean lots of people don't, it's kind of an acquired taste, a wonderful acquired taste, but still not everybody's cup of tea. And then I started laughing at bad lesbian fish jokes in my head, but decided to bring some burritos too, because, really if you don't like burritos, this might just be over right now."

Marsh looked up to see which food Erica wanted. Erica, more and more amused by Marsh's ranting every time, had broken out some tuna rolls and was placing them in her waiting mouth with a fresh pair of take-out chopsticks already.

She spoke through her bite, "I love burritos. But not as much as sushi." Marsh couldn't help but smile. Not many people allowed for her rambling, but this woman, this strong blonde surgeon, was not many people. She snapped out of what stood to be a long foray into Erica's character by the blonde herself.

"Now shut up and eat."

"Did you just tell me to shut up?"

Erica momentarily felt embarrassed at her choice of words. She could be honest, she could be tough, but she really never sought out to be mean, or inappropriate. Especially with people she was involved with socially, with personally. Her tough demeanor had gotten her everywhere in her professional life, and relatively nowhere in her personal.

"I didn't mean, you know I wouldn't, it's not like - "

"Shut up, Erica," Marsh laughed.

Erica nearly dropped the last piece of her sushi that perched on her chopsticks.

"Ass." Erica quickly added, "We are both professionals. Why do we ramble so much around each other. I mean, I don't ramble, I don't second guess myself. But around you . . ."

"You get all flustered and your pulse races and you can't stop staring at my eyes and my bouncy hair and my boobs," Marsh reveled in the opportunity to tease Erica. "It means we like each other. It means that you want to impress me. It means that this might just be real."

"I think you might be right." Erica smiled and relaxed on her office couch. She breathed in deeply, extremely happy and content, but also still somewhat in need of the sleep she was catching up on when Marsh arrived. She briefly rubbed at her neck with one hand, breathing in deeply again, staving off an impending yawn.

"Here, come here," Marsh said, as she put down her chopsticks and napkin, and shifted on the couch to position herself behind Erica.

"What are you - " Erica's confused protests were silenced as Marsh applied strong hands and gentle fingers to Erica's neck, massaging the tired muscles.

"Ohhh," Erica moaned. Marsh's hands temporarily stopped moving as her head registered the sound Erica made. She could get used to that sound, easily in fact. Erica's sex appeal was easily apparent in her personality; the confidence, the edge to her personality made Marsh melt and were ultimately the biggest and most important aphrodisiacs. But Erica's physicality, her flesh and blood, so to speak, were part of what made the blonde vulnerable, made her really human. And so Marsh, in hearing Erica let those physical barriers down, found herself that much more drawn to and turned on by the surgeon.

"You keep making those noises, I'm going to throw what I said about waiting out the window and take you right here in your office."

"Mmm hmm, of course, wait, what?" Erica snapped out of her massage haze to realize what Marsh had just said.

"Haha, you're cute when you're out of it."

"Glad you think so. And by the way, I have a no sex at the hospital policy."

Marsh continued to rub Erica's neck, moving her hands down the surgeon's spine. She longed to slip her hands under the bright red scrubs that Marsh couldn't help notice brought out the best in Erica's fair features. But this massage was about de-stressing an obviously maxed out Erica. For now.

"You've never had sex at a hospital you've worked in?"

"I didn't say that. I have before, it just never works out well. Someone always loses something."

"You cheat! So you just don't want to risk it for me?" She held on to Erica's sides playfully.

Erica replied in her relaxed, hazy state, convinced that Marsh's hands were magic, a blush firing through the front of her at the thought. "I'm sure I'd risk anything for you."

The sentence escaped Erica's mouth before she could really think about what she was saying. She tensed at first, wondering what had possessed her to say that, but she soon relaxed in the truth that she really would risk a whole lot for the woman sitting behind her. The parts of this woman she had already witnessed were already amazing, and she had this uncanny certainty that the rest of the pieces were going to fall into place. With this came a terror that she was wrong, and an even worse one that she was right.

"Erica?"

The blonde turned around, into a kiss Marsh had waiting for her. Erica's answer came on Marsh's lips, literally. Erica was learning all the different kinds of kisses this woman had to give her. This one was about being slow and in the moment, about communicating and claiming.

They broke and Marsh finished her statement. "Erica, whether I like it or not, I know I'm already risking my heart for you. It's out there, wanting to make friends with yours."

Erica giggled at that, and Marsh slapped her on the arm.

"Oh, so you can say deep, romantic things and I can't."

"No, it's just that that statement was so cute, and I don't usually do cute. I hate cute. But you, I . . . think cute works for you."

"Oh, Dr. Hahn," she pulled out a mock Southern accent. "I do believe you're making me blush."

"Oh brother. You're too much. But you should keep touching me."

Marsh's eyes lit up. "You'll never have to ask that twice."

She brought her hands up to the small of Erica's back, massaging those lower muscles there. Erica jumped back and forth between moans and sharp releases of breath to let her brunette counterpart know that it was working. She pulled up the hem of Erica's scrub top, needing to feel Erica's skin under her hands. She felt Erica tense a little at first, but the blonde soon relaxed into the touch. Marsh let her hands trail all over Erica's back, leaving her scrub top barely hanging over the top of her shoulders. She traced her spine, dug into her shoulder blades, played at the strong muscles just above Erica's pants. She delighted in the strength of this woman, both figuratively and literally.

For a while, neither woman spoke, instead just enjoying the simple physical contact. Marsh knew that Erica was the ever consummate professional, that she would obviously frown on getting naked right here on her office couch, but Marsh couldn't help pushing the situation. Her hands seemed to move on their own accord, and she knew in the back of her head that Erica would veto anything she considered inappropriate. She knew most people didn't push the blonde, but she wasn't scared.

Her hands moved around to Erica's stomach and began tracing slow circles on the soft skin. "So, Erica, you said something about a sexy dream before. Any chance you'd like to share with the class?" She whispered directly into Erica's ear, knowing exactly what she was doing."

"Mmm. Yeah. Sexy dream," was all that Erica could come up with.

Marsh's hands moved up, playing at the bottom of Erica's bra. A couple of rogue fingers slowly began exploring the skin under the blonde's bra, which was doing little to act as a barrier at this point.

"Was I anywhere to be found in this dream?" She followed up this whisper with a series of kisses along Erica's neck. She licked and kissed gently, gradually adding more pressure, but making sure not to leave any marks.

"Mmm hmm. You were the star, actually."

"Really?" Her fingers had found Erica's nipples and were lightly brushing back and forth over them, occasionally pinching down just a bit.

Erica groaned out at the contact, her eyes closed, nearly oblivious to the fact that she was still in the hospital, a range of personal walking outside her door right now.

"Yeah," she managed. "You were doing the most fantastic things with your tongue. I was quite sad to wake up." She arched forward into Marsh's touch, needing to feel more of her.

Marsh sucked on Erica's earlobe, her tongue flicking back and forth on the tiny piece of skin which had quickly become one of Marsh's favorite places on the blonde's body. She let her tongue explore more of Erica's ear, as Erica audibly whimpered out loud.

"You know, Erica, I can't wait to actually do fantastic things to you with my tongue while your awake."

She slipped her hands under the material of Erica's bra, pushing it up and out of the way. Both women moaned at the feel of Marsh's hands on Erica's naked breasts. Marsh moved more quickly now, massaging her skin, manipulating her nipples, all while continuing to kiss up and down Erica's exposed neck. Erica, for her part, was nearly lost in feeling, allowing herself to simply relax and enjoy this contact.

Beep, beep, beep. Beep, beep, beep.

The sound of Erica's pager caused her to jump, effectively moving her out of Marsh's embrace. Marsh sat there surprised, still not as used to the sound of the pager as Erica.

"Damnit," they both said.

"Duty calls?"

"Yeah, looks like a consult. For the most boring doctor in the hospital. Great." Erica was busy adjusting her bra and putting her scrub top back in place.

"Ok, well you said you'll be teaching up in Baltimore tomorrow, right?" Erica nodded through her difficulty redressing herself. "Well, I'll be up there too, running a few lab errands. Want to meet up afterward for dinner?"

Erica finally stopped and looked up at Marsh. This woman was being so patient about her on-call lifestyle, doing what she could to bend to the blonde's consistently crazy schedule. She had dated doctors on and off for so long, she forgot what this must be like for someone on the outside. This woman really was amazing.

"That sounds wonderful, Marsh. I'll call you after class then?"

"Yeah, sounds good." Marsh stood and approached Erica. She kissed her tenderly, forcing a frazzled Erica to calm down before she left her office. Marsh pulled back and looked into Erica's bright blue eyes, smiling softly.

"Erica, can I tell you something," the weight of her confession hanging in her tone.

"Um, sure," Erica tentatively answered in a questioning manner. While she thought she knew the direction of this relationship, there were moments Erica's self-assurance faltered and left huge holes in her confidence.

Marsh trailed one finger from Erica's chest, down between her breasts, along her firm stomach and around to her hips. She ran her fingers across Erica's thigh and just as Erica started to lose concentration again, finally grabbed onto her pager, pulling it off Erica's pants.

"I really hate this thing. Like, really hate it," she said, a smirk dispelling notion that she was actually angry.

Erica smiled and leaned in to kiss Marsh gently on the lips. "Me too, sometimes, me too."


	9. Chapter 9

**Title: Heart Bugs - Chapter Nine  
**

**Pairing: Erica/OC**

**Rating: M from here on out.  
**

**Summary: Marsh is hot for teacher and the ladies finally steal some alone time!  
**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Grey's Anatomy, nor any of the characters in it. Everything in this story is fictional and I am not making a profit from this.**

**A/N: Hey everyone, thanks to people who are still reading this, I'm still having fun writing it. Hopefully this chapter does a bit in making up for the time between updates. This one is also very M, woo hoo.**

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* * *

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Erica walked confidently to her lecture hall on the Johns Hopkins campus. She was in a good mood. Her job and the surgeries she had been performing were going well. Despite their recent behavior, she was still convinced she was teaching two of the best cardio residents she had seen since, well, since Cristina Yang. She had a beautiful house in a charming neighborhood, complete with friendly, gay neighbors. She was enjoying this teaching gig more than she had originally planned. And now she had a wonderful woman in her life.

Erica was still too much of a logical scientist to get carried away with the situation, but she couldn't help being excited. Maybe it was because there was so much logic to the situation itself. She and Marsh were both well-adjusted adults who finally knew what they wanted and were in a position to go after those goals. They were compatible, they were physically attracted to each other, they had wonderfully complimentary personalities.

Erica laughed to herself as she neared the classroom. She and Marsh did make a phenomenal match on paper, but that wasn't the reason she was on cloud nine. It was not the things she could define or describe with eloquent words she remembered from school. It was precisely those things beyond simple declarative statements that Erica knew she was falling for. It was that there was some measure of heart in everything Marsh said and did; there was no planning, no calculation behind the brunette's actions. There was pure honesty in who she was, in the things she said. Erica was drawn to the simplicity of Marsh's character as it stood in stark contrast to the layers of personality she wore on an everyday basis. She reveled at the idea of being able to drop layers around Marsh, to focus on simple parts of her personality she hadn't acknowledged in a while.

And then there was also the undeniable ache between her legs lately when she was around Marsh. She was tall, lean, firm beneath Erica's fingers. Her hazel eyes sparkled with a warmth Erica knew was honest. Occasionally, they turned dark with arousal that Erica knew she wanted to see again, wanted to induce again. She knew taking things slowly was the right move, especially since this seemed like it was going somewhere. But at the same time, Erica was having trouble with her interrupting pager lately.

These thoughts distracted Erica enough to not take notice of the seats inside her lecture hall as she walked in and set her laptop case on the desk up front. She was a good twenty minutes early, true to form, and knew she had a little time before all her students would be ready to go.

She was fiddling with her Mac when a seductive voice surprised her, "Dr. Hahn, I don't have the homework today, is there something else I can do to make it up?"

She looked up quickly to see Marsh standing before her, batting her eyes. She looked around on instinct and was instantly thankful there were only a couple med school students in the audience.

"What are you doing here?"

"I heard there was some hot blonde teaching a seminar about hearts and I figured I'd better check it out," Marsh giggled innocently, her schoolgirl persona throwing Erica for a loop as she struggled to maintain composure. "They were right, I'm already hot for teacher."

"I . . . uh, wasn't expecting, I thought you, uh, were . . ." Erica couldn't even string a sentence together. She didn't do well when her personal and professional lives collided. Her experiences with Callie had solidified that. But more so, she was simply flustered by the brunette in front of her, a condition she was becoming more and more familiar with, if still unable to prevent it.

Students continued to file in and Erica used them to regain the ability to speak. "Hi."

Marsh laughed honestly. "Hi, Erica," she started slowly for the blonde's sake. "I flirted my way into having my samples run first at the lab here. Got out early so I thought I'd stop by and say hi, maybe witness your teaching skills first hand."

"How did you know where I was?" was all Erica could think to ask.

"Seriously, I asked a few kids if there was a hot blonde teaching anywhere tonight, and alas I found myself here."

"You didn't," Erica was slightly mortified but also a little more than impressed with herself if Marsh was being honest, which she still didn't think she was.

Marsh raised half her smile into a smirk and tilted her head to let Erica know some of her secrets were just that. She then adopted a truly girlish manner and asked, "Seriously, can I sit in the back and watch. I promise I won't make faces or blow you kisses or anything." And as much as she joked, Marsh wouldn't actually do anything to threaten Erica's presence in this seminar.

Erica, on the other hand, wanted to say no, wanted to tell Marsh to go grab a coffee and they could meet in an hour. She could simply tell her that this class was going to be boring, over her head in a pedantic way. She knew the simple presence of the brunette might play at parts of her brain, and indeed other parts of her anatomy, that had no business being a part of today's lesson. She knew the Dr. Hahn inside of her could probably pull it together. She knew she could handle surgeries with entire galleries of onlookers; hell, she could perform open heart surgery with the patient looking on. But this was different.

She remembered working with Callie on the cement boy case. How distracted she had been moving around that brunette while trying to do her job. It had been unprofessional, it had been compromising. The fluid factor that Bailey had eventually figured out would have been something Erica would have jumped on from the start had her brain been firing medicine on all cylinders, rather than a certain Latina on many of them. And as that relationship progressed and eventually disintegrated before her eyes, Erica had moved the worlds of medicine and dating even farther apart in her life. Marsh coming to visit for dinner at the hospital was an entirely different situation than her being here right now.

But professionally, Erica did love a challenge. Could she teach this room of med students? Could she teach them with Marsh watching on? Erica wanted to test herself. Being a surgeon took up a lot of Erica's time. She knew there was no logical way she could sustain a relationship with someone outside the hospital without letting them in to that world. She knew if Marsh was going to become anything more, she would have to get to know the Dr. Hahn side of Erica; Erica was not going to be able to leave her outside the walls of the hospital. And despite what had happened with Callie, Erica wanted more than ever to prove that she could change. That was the challenge she most wanted to meet. She knew there had to be a balance between the personal and the professional, and damnit, she was ready to find it.

And there was a part of her, and admittedly large part, that simply wanted to impress Marsh. They were both doctors, but Erica knew the power of the scalpel. There was a reason she had told Mark Sloan that he had only been attracted to how hot she looked with her hands on a heart. Erica was good, she was the best, and knew she could easily command a room, and specifically one person in it, with her grasp of medicine.

"Alright, you. Take a seat and just know, there will most definitely be a quiz at the end of class."

Marsh smiled seductively, "Oh don't worry, Dr. Hahn, I definitely plan on impressing you this evening."

She sauntered off to a seat in the back, leaving Erica to mull over that last statement. Most of her students had filed in by this point, including Bree, the brunette who still reminded Erica of Callie. She nodded to the young girl's greeting, and let her mind briefly play upon memories of Callie. She looked up to Marsh behind a pull out desk and was met with a warm smile. Just as Erica was beginning to consciously appreciate the direction her life had taken, Marsh stuck her tongue out at the blonde, causing her to sigh and shake her head. Time to start.

Despite a few moments wherein Erica found herself distracted by a certain brunette, who really wasn't doing anything out of the ordinary to her credit, the Thursday night class went well. Erica felt she was on point, engaging to the room of students, and even managed to bring out her sharp wit a handful of times. She knew her breadth of knowledge was impressive; she honestly hoped some of these kids would remember at least a percentage of the information when it came time for their residencies.

She figured, cardio or not, Bree might just make a good physician someday. Her assignment had been thoughtful without being clichéd. True to her promise, Erica had offered her the chance to scrub in on a surgery down at Georgetown sometime in the next few weeks, and Bree seemed absolutely thrilled at the opportunity.

For Marsh's part, she was impressed. She had sat in the back row utterly stunned by the blonde at the head of the room. Her first encounter with the blonde, if she didn't count knocking Erica over with her giant field coolers, had been in a professional context. But Marsh had been so focused on her own pain and embarrassment, that she hadn't noticed how impressive Erica really was. She spoke with an unshakable confidence, she asked the right questions of her students, she was funny when the mood called for it.

Marsh found herself smiling in the back row in awe of Erica. She took even more delight in the fact that she knew Erica had a vulnerable side, had a mountain of insecurities that she was starting to work through. The soft and tough of Erica's personality had Marsh intrigued. The medicine of the lecture eluded Marsh, but she didn't care. She spent the entire time daydreaming about the blonde and starting to realize that she had already fallen hard for her.

* * *

The two women were walking off campus, extremely hungry and eager to spend some time alone. They walked in relative silence, knowing they would have all night to talk. Erica was feeling especially empowered after showing off for the brunette, and so she reached down and grabbed for her hand, which Marsh willingly gave over. Both women smiled faintly while still looking straight ahead.

From behind them, they heard a voice. "Erica!"

Erica turned to see her mentor walking briskly to catch up. "Max! Hey, how are you?"

Max reached the two women, his eyes looking down to their joined hands briefly. "Uh, I'm well Erica, how are you?"

"Great, actually. Max, this is Dr. Marcia Stravinsky. Marsh, this is Dr. Max Greenfield, my teacher and mentor from eons ago."

"A pleasure, sir," Marsh said, extending her hand to greet the older man.

Max took a brief second before shaking Marsh's hand, immediately turning his attention back to Erica. "If it was eons for you, that makes me quite near dead, young lady. And while I may be older than dirt, I am not quite dead."

Both women laughed politely at the man's sense of humor, which was evidence in itself that he was getting quite old.

"We're actually just coming from the class you conned me into teaching. It's going well by the way."

"We? Did I not just hear that you're already a doctor? Are you sitting in Erica's class to observe?"

"I'm a researcher, sir, entomology. I _was_ observing tonight though. Just interested in what Erica does, I suppose."

Dr. Greenfield looked at Erica, confused. Erica jumped in confidently, "We're dating, Max. Marsh does work at one of the labs here and decided to sit in on the class tonight."

"Oh, well, oh." An awkward moment passed between the three of them.

Erica broke the tension. "I think I may stop by to visit next week, I have a chronic case I thought I'd ask you to take a look at."

"Yes, do that, that sounds nice, Erica," Max said, grateful for the conversation to turn back toward medicine.

The two women said their goodbyes and continued to walk toward Erica's car in the faculty lot.

"Ummm, that was awkward," Marsh looked at Erica with a look that could have been half amusement, half total fear.

"What do you mean?" Erica asked, honestly oblivious.

"Um, he doesn't know you date women now, does he?"

"No, I suppose it hasn't really come up. He did seem a bit surprised I guess, but I wouldn't worry about it."

"Oh, I'm not. It's just always fun getting that fatherly 'you're sleeping with my daughter' look."

"Oh, he did not - "

"Um, he did too," Marsh laughed loudly.

"Well, he was the closest thing to a father I had when I was younger."

"Really, I want to hear all about him. I want to hear everything about you, Erica."

Erica smiled as they entered the car and began driving off toward their inner harbor destination. _And for some reason, I want to tell you everything_, Erica thought.

* * *

"This is absolutely gorgeous," Erica said, looking out the window of the tiny Italian restaurant that overlooked Baltimore's Inner Harbor. She thought briefly of the waterways that infiltrated Seattle, but only thought with respect to comparison, not to longing or regret. "How did you find this place?"

"In all honesty?" Erica nodded. "A male co-worker, a professor, brought me here one day after asking to pick my brain about butterfly reproduction. It took me until the end of dinner to realize he thought it was a date."

"Oh my god, what did you do?"

"I laughed. A lot. Actually, I think I hurt his feelings. But, everyone at the university knows I'm gay, I think he was new at the time."

"Well, I'm glad, this is beautiful. It's amazing how much of the city I missed when I was in medical school here."

"Well, I remembered the view. And I remembered the extensive wine list that this guy spent twenty minutes mulling over before picking something that tasted like red wine to me. I thought you might like it."

Erica smirked seriously, "If you have to spend twenty minutes reading a wine list, you know nothing about wine."

"Well then, to save myself some embarrassment, how about you pick the wine then!"

_One more challenge for the night_, Erica thought. "Alright. And I'm going to order something you'll actually like."

The waiter came over and indeed, after only a few moments of glancing, Erica ordered something with a nearly perfect Italian accent. Erica caught Marsh staring at her, oblivious to the rest of the world.

"Hello, Marsh?"

"That was hot."

"Excuse me?"

"The accent, it was hot."

"Well then, unfortunately I have to tell you that my knowledge of Italian, and French for that matter, is limited to wines and the names of famous cardio surgeons."

Marsh shook her head, "Oh that's fine, we'll just have to start ordering more wine together. A lot more wine."

The two laughed together and continued to talk. When the wine came, Marsh was not surprised to find that she did indeed like it. They talked through bread and salads and finally their meals.

"So, you didn't manage to see much of Baltimore while you studied here?" Marsh asked.

"Um, not too much of it. I studied hard, I mean you have to just to make it through med school, it's nothing like undergrad. And, I had a boyfriend at the time, we did the other things in life that took up the time we weren't studying. Meals, weekends, sex."

"Eww, boy sex."

Erica laughed before settling into a serious face. "Yeah, you know, you're right. I always knew back then that it didn't feel quite right, but I always thought it was because school was just the priority in my life. After that, I just figured it was because I hadn't met the right man. It almost seems absurd that I never considered it was because I was actually attracted to women."

"Eh, sometimes it takes a certain event, or a person to figure it out. I mean, we're raised straight, there is no reason for us to think otherwise when we're young. I feel lucky to have figured it out when I did. And to have met Lisa soon after."

Erica looked at Marsh deeply, trying to figure out what emotion was etched on to her face. It looked like genuine happiness, contentment. She couldn't lie to herself and say that she still wasn't worried about the fact that this woman, whom she was most certainly beginning to fall for, had lost the love of her life. But when she examined Marsh at moments like this, it made her comfortable, it made her feel like she wasn't in competition. She figured she and Lisa probably stood on completely different playing fields.

Erica's eyes dropped a little lower, "Do you always wear it?"

Marsh's hand immediately reached up to fondle the piece of silver that hung at the hollow of her throat. "Yeah, I do. I mean, I don't think about it too much anymore, I just put it on each morning. I suppose it's more habit than actual memento these days, but yeah, I do."

Erica smiled, not knowing how to react to the answer. There didn't seem to be anything right to say.

"Hey, it's ok. I know it's a lot of baggage to take on, but I'm ok these days, if you are. I've had a lot of ups and downs in my life, but I like to think that I've been a pretty balanced person most of my life. And hell, Lisa probably helped with that. But, the point is, I've always known that people die. Was it right or fair for the person that died to be my wife? Was it right that she was that young? Or that it happened the way it did? Maybe not, but it happened. And I am at an entirely different place than I was five or four or even three years ago." Marsh looked at Erica, hoping that she was really hearing her. "It may seem clichéd, but the time I've spent overseas has taught me so much. I've seen a lot, and I'm sure that's something you can relate to. There's a lot out there that's worse than death. Death is still not something to be afraid of. A life of pain, a life of hiding or lying, a life without love – there are a lot of things worse than death."

Erica stared at the brunette beauty through what she figured were the beginnings of tears. "You're amazing."

"I know," Marsh said deadpan, before lapsing into fits of laughter. "Seriously though, I am nowhere right now except here with you in this moment. I'm not as sure as to where you are with all this, but I'm pretty sure I like you. I mean, I just spent over an hour listening to gobbledy gook about arteries and valves and much longer words that I'm not even going to pretend that I understood, just to stare at you."

"You really are amazing."

"You keep saying that. And while I know it's absolutely true, do you have anything else to add to this conversation, Dr. Hahn?"

"Yeah," Erica said seriously. "Let's get out here."

Marsh's eyes suddenly darkened as she flagged the server down for the check.

* * *

They had driven the forty-five minutes or so back to DC sans traffic or talking. In the car, Erica had reached for Marsh's hand which already extended out to hers. There was this perfect balance between electricity and pure calm in the car. Both women could feel the anticipation in their bones, in their skin, in their pulses which beat hard, beat fast. But at the same time, there was no rush, there was no need to push or pull. They only had to let everything happen.

"Here, turn here."

"This isn't my street," Erica replied, confused.

"I know. It's mine."

Erica smiled and made a hard right turn on the deserted neighborhood street. They were less than a half mile from Erica's house, and at this the blonde smiled. Fate really was something sometimes. And in a good way if it wanted to be.

"Here, this one," Marsh pointed toward a cute, dark red, stand alone house in the middle of classy, older row homes like Erica's. It had brightly colored shutters, all manner of bird feeders outside, and more bushes and plants than Erica could remember seeing in the city proper in a while.

"This is very you, Marsh," Erica said as they walked up the path to the front door.

"Thank you, I think," Marsh nervously giggled as she opened up her door.

Inside, Erica witnessed Marsh's travels over the years firsthand. There were paintings and sculptures and knick knacks that had obviously not been collected locally. From the entrance, Erica could see the living room, the kitchen, a hallway and the stairwell, and each were painted a different jewel tone color. The furniture was simple and elegant, the few electronics Erica noticed were uber high tech, and the mood was warm and inviting.

Marsh kicked off her shoes in the foyer and turned back to Erica, who was still curiously looking around. She leaned up and kissed the slightly taller woman gently. The kiss soon grew in intensity, Erica using her teeth to scrape along Marsh's bottom lip, Marsh teasing Erica incessantly with the tip of her tongue. The women broke for air, leaning their foreheads against each other.

"Hey," Erica whispered.

"Yeah?"

"You're a liar."

Marsh pulled back quickly, confused. "What?"

"You said you were messy. This place is spotless."

"Ooh, and you're a bad listener, Dr. Hahn."

"Oh, is that true _Dr._ Stravinsky?"

Marsh wrapped her arms around Erica's waist, relishing the feel of the strong woman in her arms. She felt a power already, being able to surround Erica, to cradle her like this. She almost couldn't imagine what it would be like to have Erica underneath her, to have Erica vulnerable beneath her touch.

"Mmm hmm. I told you my place _was_ messy. Because I was busy with that presentation and because I had a bum arm. But alas, that presentation was on Monday, and my arm feels great."

To demonstrate, she ran the tips of her fingers along Erica's spine, tracing a line from her neck, down along her spine, not quite stopping at the edge of Erica's slacks. Marsh gently ran her hand along the curve of Erica's ass, dragging her nails back up to sit at Erica's waist. Erica let her eyelids drop to half mast as her breathing picked up the slightest bit.

"I need . . ." Erica's voice caught as Marsh's hands dropped just below her ass and her fingertips played at the inside of her thighs. The women were pressed up against each other, kissing and touching lightly, offsetting the heavy tension in the room.

"Yes, Erica?" Her composure impressed Erica.

"I need water."

Marsh laughed briefly as she brought her hands up to the sides of Erica's face. She kissed her forehead before whispering, "Glasses are in the top right cabinet. Help yourself and then come meet me in the bedroom." She walked away. _No, sauntered, _Erica thought_. Definitely sauntered.  
_

Erica turned around to the kitchen and, using surprisingly shaky hands, poured herself a glass of water. She drank slowly, mentally preparing herself. _Ok, normal people don't need peptalks for sex_, she thought. She put the glass down and walked out of the kitchen, stumbling onto the carpet more than slightly as she realized she had no idea where the bedroom was.

Erica opened the two closed doors in the downstairs hallway. A well organized linen closet met her first, and Erica found herself embarrassed that she admired Marsh's shelf organization. Behind the second door, she found a guest room. It didn't look like a dusty, oddly furnished guest room that so many homes could claim; it appeared to be a cozy, well used home away from home. Erica thought about the family Marsh had living close in the area. She thought about her own family up in New England and wondered if she'd ever get around to telling them about his new wonderful woman in her life. _Ok, normal people don't think about their mothers before sex_, she thought.

Erica was truly confused at this point as to where Marsh was and why she hadn't just waited for her. She climbed the stairs, trying the first door on the second floor. She found a study chocked full of bookcases full of textbooks, a desk with plenty of computer equipment, questionable jars on shelves to the left, and no less than 50 post-it notes scattered about. With the sheer number of hours Erica devoted to cardio surgery, she often forgot that so many other people had passions that ran just as deep as hers and drives just as strong and competitive as hers. She was truly glad she had found one of those people.

She found another bathroom as she moved down the hallway, her self doubt center just starting to kick in. Why on earth did Marsh not give her the slightest clue as to where she was going? For a brief flicker of an instant, Erica thought of the scenes in bad romance comedies where someone would sneak out an open bathroom window, but quickly shook that thought off. Just as Erica logically surmised that one of the two remaining doors had to have been the master bedroom, Erica heard a noise from the one, sending her nerves on a trip from her head to her heart.

"Marsh?"

"In here, Erica," she heard from beyond the door.

Erica pushed open the bedroom door to reveal Marsh blowing out a match that she had obviously been using to light no less than a dozen candles set around the room. There was music coming from Bose speakers on shelves above the dresser. Erica thought Sam Cook, but she wasn't certain.

"Hmm, do you always happen to keep a plethora of candles handy in the bedroom for guests, Marsh?"

"Too cheesy? You hate it. Oh well, I like it. It beats overhead lighting and I'm a classic romantic at heart. Well, maybe a modern romantic, it has to be a balance, right? But the music stays, Sam Cook is dreamy. For a boy, that is - "

"Marsh, it's beautiful, it's perfect." Erica took a few long steps and covered the distance between her and the brunette. "I just can't help thinking that you planned this night all along."

"Well, of course I did. I may be a rambling, tree-hugging spaz at times, but when I want something, I go after it." She moved forward and kissed Erica on the lips. She whispered, "And I told you earlier, I'm hot for teacher and ready to impress."

Erica could barely concentrate as Marsh drew her earlobe into her mouth, flicking the tip of her tongue over it as she breathed hot into Erica's ear. "I am thoroughly impressed, mmm, but I hope you know, ooh, that I'm going to cause a scene in one of your classes, uhh, soon."

Marsh pulled back and smirked at Erica. Then suddenly, she pushed her backward onto the bed. "You can do your worst, Dr. Hahn. But I'll have you know, I'm not easily distracted."

"How about you get down here and I'll be the judge of that."

Marsh smiled. "Gladly."

Marsh climbed on top of Erica, resting her weight on her strong arms. She slowly lowered herself over the blonde, covering Erica's body with her own. Erica's eyes shut at the simple pressure of Marsh on top of her. She dipped her head down and kissed Erica, ran her tongue along Erica's bottom lip before nipping at it gently. Erica's hands found themselves roaming along Marsh's back, feeling muscle move under her thin cotton shirt. She found the hem and tugged.

"Take this off. Doctor's orders."

"Bossy on the streets. Worse between the sheets?"

Erica laughed as she pulled the shirt off Marsh, who was a willing participant in the process. Marsh figured fair was fair and immediately went to work unbuttoning Erica's blouse, trailing her tongue down each inch of pale, soft skin she found. Erica's conservative breaths came quicker and finally hitched as Marsh dipped her tongue into Erica's sensitive belly button.

Marsh smiled through the noises she was hearing, an absolute rush flowing through her body to have this woman underneath her. This woman who was letting her vulnerabilities shine through at this moment, this woman who was as sharp as she was classically gorgeous, this woman who was a perfect stranger before a pair of lucky run-ins. She licked along the edge of Erica's timeless black dress pants. She looked up to Erica for confirmation as she moved her steady fingers to pop the clasp. Erica's heavily lidded eyes threw an urgent 'yes' her way; Marsh understood the past week had been the longest, most tense period of foreplay she'd experienced in a very long time. Within seconds, Erica's pants were off and ten feet across the room.

"Argyle socks, Erica?" She said even as Erica was kicking them off herself.

"Shut up, argyle is classic."

"Mmm, so was my '74 pinto. Doesn't make me want to revisit it."

Erica smacked Marsh on the closet body part she could reach, which happened to be Marsh's ass. Marsh's sharp intake of breath killed the laugh in Erica's throat, turning it into a deep moan. She moved to caress Marsh through her pants, kneading the firm flesh underneath.

"Why are you still wearing pants?" Erica growled.

Marsh raised up on her knees. "Because you're inattentive and left them on me."

Erica hardly needed that invitation. In one motion she flipped the brunette onto her back and ripped her pants off. Marsh was grinning ear to ear, her eyes focused and dark. She pulled Erica down again and kissed her passionately. They rolled around for a while, kissing and stroking exposed flesh. It was a tangle of limbs and a symphony of two panting women slowly turning sexual tension into release.

Erica laid on top of Marsh and drew back momentarily to examine her. In the low light of the room, she couldn't have looked more gorgeous. Her curly brown hair was strewn all over the bed, her eyes smiling along with her lips. Her tanned skin covered a strong, lean body that screamed of 5am workouts. Erica ran her hand slowly and leisurely down Marsh's side, needing the simple touch to affirm that she was actually here, that they were actually doing this.

Erica pulled the corner of her lip into her mouth, deep in that kind of thought that only comes when you're half naked, all other worldly concerns miles away. Being in bed with Callie had felt right because she was a woman. Being here with Marsh like this felt right because she knew she was falling for her. This was simply so much more.

Suddenly, Erica felt Marsh's hand at her back and just as she relaxed into the touch, she felt her bra pop open and opened her eyes to see Marsh pulling the garment off her.

"Yup, still got it."

"What was that?"

"You were being reverent, I needed you naked." Marsh plainly replied, pulling Erica back on top of her. She quickly rolled over to reverse their positions. She wasted no more time before kissing the pale expanse of skin along Erica's neck. She dropped a few light kisses along Erica's collarbone before meeting the swell of Erica's breasts. She lightly grabbed both, cupping them and gently squeezing as she continued to kiss the valley between them. Erica moaned at the feeling of Marsh's hands.

Marsh began to lick slow circles around one of Erica's breasts, mimicking the action with her hand on the other. She made smaller and smaller circles until she finally flicked her tongue over Erica's nipple. She pinched the other one at the same time as Erica gasped.

"Oh god."

"I thought you didn't believe in god," Marsh replied, barely moving her mouth away from Erica's skin. She honestly believed she could already be addicted to this taste.

"Please use your mouth for something other than talking," Erica replied.

Marsh moved her mouth over to the other breast and drew the entirety of Erica's nipple into her mouth, sucking and running her tongue back and forth over it. She felt Erica's body moving in a subtle rhythm underneath her, and delighted at being able to bring the blonde pleasure.

She kissed her way back up Erica's neck, laying deliberate kisses along her jaw line before reaching her mouth. The two women met in a feather light kiss, betrayed by their heavy breathing and limbs shaking in anticipation. Their eyes met and the realization of what they were doing, not just in this moment, but in their lives together, seemed to hit them. Marsh smiled wide and drew Erica into a sitting position with her.

"I'm guessing your not feeling any reservation about this anymore?"

"None." Erica blushed fiercely. "I'll admit, I'm still polishing my skills in certain areas, but I'm ready for this. I want this, I want you. Now, I'm going to take your bra off, and it's not going to go as smoothly as when you did it, but you're going to pretend you don't notice. And then, way less talking."

Marsh was caught between smiling and moaning as Erica reached around and removed her bra, much more deftly than either of them were expecting. Quick staccato pants came from both women as they embraced, their naked breasts coming together for the first time. They rocked against each other in a rhythm they nearly fell into perfectly. Marsh had one of her knees positioned between Erica's legs, and the blonde was unconsciously thrusting up against it while her hands ran up and down Marsh's sides, almost not knowing what to do with that much skin available to her, begging for her touch.

Erica moved her hands up and just barely caressed Marsh's nipples with the pads of her thumbs. The brunette thrust her chest forward into Erica's hands below them and bit her lip appreciatively. Emboldened by the brunette's response, Erica pressed harder, massaging the entirely of Marsh's breasts, kneading them as they hung tantalizingly inches above her own body.

She took a moment to speak as her hands continued dancing around Marsh's body. "God, you're beautiful."

The gravelly tone Erica had a habit of dropping into was not something Marsh was completely unfamiliar with, but it still hit her hard and heavy every time she was privy to hearing it. "And you're fucking sexy, Erica. But what happened to no talking?" She smirked through the question.

"Well, it was my rule and I'm the only one allowed to break my own rules."

"Oh really?" She tucked a piece of Erica's hair that had begun to regain its natural curl behind her ear as she sat up and straddled the blonde.

"And do you have a lot of rules, Erica?" She figured in the back of her head that Dr. Hahn probably had a laundry list of rules for herself and others, but she was truly interested in what Erica had to say.

Erica tried to be honest through her lust. "I wouldn't say that. I would say I have principles. Ones that I try my damndest to adhere to, but . . . the older I get, the more I'm learning to bend, I think." She paused, "Not in everything mind you, there are some things that are pretty black and white to me. Rules can be good."

Marsh leaned down and whispered with dripping hot breath into Erica's ear, "See, this sounds like it could be an interesting, serious conversation, but right now, with you naked and flushed and wet underneath me, it only makes me think of you in some sort of uniform and me all tied to the bed or something."

"Oh Jesus," Erica snapped out of her introspection and was again only focused on the moment, on the hairs that were standing up all over her body, on the flush that had spread from Marsh's cheeks to her chest.

Marsh licked a trail down Erica's stomach, dipping her tongue into the blonde's belly button. She explored Erica's midsection with her lips and tongue, her breasts lightly moving over the fabric of Erica's underwear as she moved around. She let her tongue drag along the top edge of Erica's panties, biting at the hem just a bit. Erica's hips unconsciously bucked forward and Marsh took the opportunity to rid Erica of the remainder of her clothing.

She scooted down the bed a little, removing her own panties as she went. She could feel Erica's steel blue gaze on her as she began placing butterfly kisses at the insides of Erica's knees. She moved back and forth between Erica's legs, using soft brushes of her lips and deep open mouthed kisses to make Erica wetter than Marsh already knew she was. Not wanting nor needing to rush this first exploration of the now panting blonde surgeon, Marsh slowly worked her way to the apex of Erica's legs, which had slowly fallen open of their own accord.

Marsh finally ran a stiff tongue along the edge of where Erica's strong legs met velvety smooth skin and only then did she look up to see her blonde lover. Erica was staring intently at Marsh, propped up on her elbows. She could have just finished a race; her breath came quickly, there was a healthy pink glow to her cheeks, and a thin layer of sheen had developed across Erica's upper body. If there was any question in Marsh's head as to whether Erica was ready for this tonight, there was none anymore.

Marsh dropped her head back to look at Erica's center. Her blonde curls faded into smooth, pink skin which was glisteningly wet. Marsh placed a kiss at the top of Erica's mound and then another just a little lower. And another and another until she heard Erica cry out.

"Oh god, Marsh!"

Marsh's tongue darted and out she began tracing long lines through Erica's folds, moving slowly and methodically. The noises and barrage of dirty words coming from Erica's mouth made Marsh want to attack, but she wanted to the first orgasm she gave Erica to be drawn out, to be perfect.

She let her tongue explore Erica's opening, prompting another set of words that made Marsh nearly laugh into Erica's center. She moved in and out of the blonde as her left hand snaked around Erica's thigh to still her bucking hips. She soon brought a tentative finger up and slowly entered Erica. Both woman released breaths they'd been holding in as moans escaped them. Marsh could feel her own wetness dripping down her thigh as she moved in and out of Erica, quickly adding another finger into the tight, wet space.

"Oh Marsh, please."

There were times Marsh was going to make Erica beg, there would be plenty of nights to draw out each other's pleasures into a tantric dance of willpowers. But this was not one of them. Marsh wanted, needed to hear Erica scream her name.

She sucked on Erica's clit lightly, adding more pressure incrementally. Her tongue began rocking back and forth on the tiny nub, jumping in on the rhythm her fingers had set. Erica's hips met Marsh's fingers thrust for thrust. She heard Erica's breathing speed up and Marsh knew she was close.

"Mm, don't stop, I'm gonna - "

Marsh added a third finger seamlessly and quickened her assault on Erica's clit until she felt the blonde clamp down around her fingers as she heard her name being screamed.

"Marsh!" Erica's world exploded into a hot silver light as she lost it under Marsh's ministrations. Her body convulsed over and over again and she could hardly control the noises that escaped her.

Marsh kept her fingers inside the blonde, not wanting to lose that contact with her quite so soon, and rode out Erica's orgasm with her. After she felt Erica relax, she reluctantly withdrew her fingers and shimmied up the bed to lay on her back next to Erica.

"Wow, that was . . ."

"Good, I'm glad. And you, miss, are ridiculously sexy when you come."

Erica turned on her side and rested her head on Marsh's shoulder as the brunette wrapped her arm around her. "Well, I'm not sure it's ever been that intense before."

"Yay, I win."

Erica chuckled, "That you do."

"You really are amazing, Erica. I'm glad I ran you over with my field gear and then nearly broke my arm," Marsh said dreamily.

"I can't say I agree, but yeah, I'm obviously happy about how things turned out. And that you're so hot."

Marsh blushed and ran her fingers through Erica's soft hair. She constantly found herself fascinated with Erica's blonde locks. Erica moaned lightly and began tracing patterns along Marsh's stomach, slowly at first as she was still recovering from her own bliss. But soon her hands were wandering, along Marsh's side, over each of her breasts, down toward the well trimmed patch of brown curly hair. Erica kept her head on Marsh's shoulder, unable to see the brunette's eyes tightly closed in ecstasy.

Erica ran her hands along the tops of Marsh's thighs, drawing them down and back using soft strokes. She let her fingers fall farther and farther inside the brunette's legs with each stroke until she could hear Marsh breathing heavily. She tentatively let a couple fingers dance in the soft patch of hair above Marsh's center.

"Erica, you know you don't _have_ to do anything."

Erica sat up on her knees facing the brunette. She offered her a hand and drew Marsh up into a kneeling position facing her.

"Marsh. I want to do this, I'm ready to do this. I wouldn't be here if I wasn't ready, I promise. You you're going to have to start trusting me. Ok?"

"Yeah, of course, sorry." She nipped at Erica's shoulder.

"No apologies, it's sweet. I like that we're talking about it." Erica suddenly reached down and cupped Marsh's mound, letting out an animalistic sound as she realized just how wet Marsh was. "But really, I'm good."

"Uhh, yeah," was all Marsh could manage.

Erica's long surgeon fingers deftly maneuvered through Marsh's soft folds, exploring them for the first time. Her other hand held Marsh upright as she felt the brunette becoming unsteady under her touch. She gently let her middle finger slip up inside Marsh's opening, causing the younger woman to gasp and look Erica directly in the eyes. The two women held each other's gaze as Erica added another finger and began to pump away earnestly.

Marsh was lost in a sea of feeling as Erica filled her. Her body was more sensitive than she could ever remember and Erica's touch was perfect, calculated but natural, firm but smooth and exactly where Marsh needed it. She stared into Erica's bright blues which were anything but glazed over and smiled through her building tension. Erica looked back into Marsh's bright green eyes, her own focused and entirely in awe of the brunette before her. She reveled in being able to bring another person so much pleasure.

"Oh god, Erica," Marsh moaned quietly as she let her head fall onto Erica's shoulder, biting the blonde woman reflexively. She continued to rock up and down on Erica's steady hand.

"You feel so good," Erica said, playing with a power that she controlled and yet wasn't hers at the same time. Erica's mind flashed for a second on the thought that she could be content living here in this moment.

"More," came the strained whisper.

Erica added a third finger and maneuvered her thumb over Marsh's clit. She continued to thrust into Marsh using her thigh situated expertly behind her hand. She felt the brunette began to tighten further around her fingers and sped up the movement of her thumb.

"Oh, honey, fuck." And with that, Marsh felt her orgasm tumbling over her, exploding out of her. She bit down hard on Erica's neck as the blonde's hand danced up and down with her own body, riding out the wave.

As both of their breathing slowed, the two women felt more than a little wobble in their knees and collapsed onto the bed facing each other, still joined together. Erica slowly moved her fingers out of Marsh, triggering a small aftershock that caused the brunette to shyly giggle.

"Wow. It's true what they say about surgeons."

Erica raised an eyebrow.

Marsh smiled, "They have good hands."

Erica laughed despite herself and propped herself up sideways on her elbow. "I would make some comment about entomologists, but I'm pretty sure the conversation would go somewhere I just don't want to go naked."

"Oh, whatever, Hahn. Insects are sexy and you know it." Marsh held a serious face for all of two seconds before melting into a giant grin. Erica couldn't help but smile back even as she shook her head a bit.

"You make me feel . . ." Erica was caught between truly not being able to describe the feeling and embarrassment about emotional talk at all.

"What?" Marsh softly challenged.

"I don't know, you know?" Erica failed to find the words.

Marsh laughed, "No, I don't really."

"You make me feel . . . alive." Erica grimaced. "Oh god, that's cheesy, nevermind, I meant, I mean, you just have this way - "

"Hey, no. Nervous rambling? My thing, you can't have it." Marsh leaned in and kissed Erica, draping her arm over Erica's body and tucking her head into the crook of her shoulder. "And I'm glad, because you make me feel safe, protected, excited, driven, happy. You make me feel loved."

Erica leaned down and planted a kiss on top of Marsh's mess of curls, which had grown incredibly larger after rolling around on the bed for so long. She smiled through the kiss, and held the woman next to her tightly. Marsh squeezed back and that's how the two women found themselves as they drifted off to sleep not minutes later.

* * *

**A/N: Yay? Nay? Satisfying? There are certainly more sexy times in store for these two, and also some hurdles. But first, the doctors go kayaking! Hilarity will obviously ensue. That and maybe some poison ivy places it shouldn't be . . . **


	10. Chapter 10

**Title: Heart Bugs**  
**Author: Mobiustripper42**  
**Rating: NC-17**  
**Summary: A totally fluffy chapter where the girls and friends go camping!**

**A/N: Oh my gosh, I have learned in this endeavor that I am terrible at updating. Hopefully, I kind of make it up to you by being unable to write chapters shorter than 9,000 words, haha. Anyway, I'm done with some traveling I was doing, so the next few installments should actually come more quickly, and I really do still have an idea of where this story is going, so no fear. Enjoy.**

Erica, Marsh and Laura were piled into Marsh's bright orange Element along with a number of bags that Erica found quite excessive. Marsh insisted that you could never be too prepared for camping, even though Erica went out of her way to remind the younger woman that they were staying in a cabin and that she and Kate were hardly the mountain man types.

Erica had spent the entire previous day thinking about her brunette and the night they had shared together. Sydney had resorted to snapping directly in front of Erica's face to get her attention at one point, while Jake had chivalrously offered an ear should Erica have found the desire to 'talk about it.' While Erica found their responses annoying as usual, she knew both that her spacing out was her own fault and that she was happy her two residents were no longer at each other's throats.

Marsh had spent the day prior helping out the two grad students in her lab that were closest to obtaining their Ph.D.s. She was naturally inclined to help and these students happened to have problems she could assist in solving. She was still waiting for the final word as to when her most recent paper would be published, but for now she was in limbo with the head of her lab up and leaving. She decided to not think too much about that and instead focus on Erica. She was sure that whatever she could be thrown professionally, she could handle it in the face of this new relationship she was delving into. She knew there were no less than one million things that could still go wrong, but on some level she simply didn't care, and on another level she just had a feeling that this one would stick, that she and Erica were going to become something.

"Alright, Kate's place is right . . . here," Erica said as they pulled up.

"Ok, I'm not gonna lie, Erica. Kate still intimidates me," Marsh said as they walked up to the door.

"Oh, don't worry about her. She's a big softy at heart, and I know for a fact that she does actually like you." Erica turned toward Laura, "And you shouldn't worry either, Kate usually waits a little while before becoming too crass."

"Oh I'm going to be fine. Don't you get it? We get to bond as the friends of the two dorks who are falling in love this weekend."

Marsh shot her dear friend a surprised and slightly accusatory look that Erica didn't fail to catch. Laura shrugged and continued.

"See, we get to talk about you and make fun of you. Marsh, you're right, you're still doing the 'proving yourself to the best friend' bit, but Kate's got no reason to be difficult with me."

Erica jumped in suddenly realizing something. "So wait, am I still doing the 'proving myself' thing with you?"

"You saved my aunt's life, I think that's good enough."

Erica smiled warmly. It was actually rare that she got to experience follow up on her patients. She knew each time she gave a life back to someone and for her that was enough, but it was still satisfying to hear when the lives she gave back were good ones.

Just then the door opened and Kate, arms crossed, spoke as she leaned against the door frame, "Took you people long enough. Who wants coffee?"

Laura and Erica raised their hands and began following Kate back to her kitchen.

"Kate, this is Laura. Laura, Kate Robinson, she's another surgeon I work with."

Kate held out her hand. "Nice to meet you. So we do get to spend this weekend talking about these two and embarrassing the shit out of them, right?"

"See? Told you," Laura reveled.

"Oh, brother. I'm already dreading this." She looked to Marsh for support when she realized the brunette was not in the room with them. Kate and Laura had already struck up conversation, so Erica retreated to find her girlfriend.

Wait, are we girlfriends? Erica thought to herself, finding the pluralization of the word a little odd. She never cared much for labels anyway, but couldn't help wondering at what point she and Marsh were. She had briefly entertained the idea that she and Callie were going to have to come up with a name for what they were doing, but that game was over before it ever got to that point. As much anxiety as this issue was suddenly causing Erica, she was still somewhat glad it was becoming an issue at all.

She wandered to the back of Kate's place, following a noise she thought she recognized. Turning the corner, Erica's inkling was validated as she saw Marsh gently examining the keys of the baby grand piano that took up most of the back room. Erica stood in the doorway for more than a moment as she watched Marsh hit a couple keys, stringing a few notes together. She then brought both hands to the keys and began playing a sweet melody as if it were nothing. Erica unconsciously smiled.

The blonde listened a while and then finally walked over to the brunette causing her to turn around, a small smile turning into a big one as Erica came and joined her on the piano bench.

"That was beautiful. You're really good, aren't you?"

"Yeah, pretty much," Marsh laughed.

"Yeah, it's a good thing this surgeon thing worked for me, because man, I was terrible at music. That flute deserved a much better life than I ever gave it," Erica said all too seriously.

"Oh please. Anyone can learn music, it's not like science, it's already ingrained in us."

"Not in me, honey."

Marsh squinted as she thought for a moment. "What is it called when someone's heart isn't beating right?"

"What do you mean, an arrhythmia?"

"Bingo. Our hearts, the very things that keep us alive - " she pressed her hand against Erica's chest, partially to illustrate and partially to more intimately touch the blonde, "have a rhythm to them."

She continued. "It's true. The vast majority of time signatures in musical pieces fall within the range of rhythms of our hearts."

"Is that really true?"

"I have no idea, but it sounds good, doesn't it?" Marsh laughed as Erica slapped her on the arm.

"You liar. I guess it's true though." She paused. "I remember the first time I used a stethoscope. I mean, all doctors use them, but the first time I heard a heart through one, I got the chills. It felt so intimate to hear the inner workings of someone's most important organ."

Marsh smiled at Erica. "Was that in med school?"

"No, I was eight. My mother was in the hospital for something and the doctor let me play around while I was there."

"Really, you knew that young?" Marsh imagined a tiny blonde haired, blue eyed girl and lit up.

"No, but it sounds good, doesn't it?"

Marsh punched Erica in the arm this time as the blonde retorted, "Well, we both have good poker faces. That could be dangerous."

Marsh shook her head as Erica continued, "But I think I know what you mean. It's how I know I've done what I was supposed to in surgery. I have to hear it."

"See. And a good sense of rhythm is the hardest thing to teach new musicians." She dropped her voice to a whisper and leaned in close to Erica's ear. "And trust me, I already know you have an excellent sense of rhythm, Dr. Hahn."

Erica shuddered, looking over her shoulder to make sure no one was watching them. She leaned in and kissed Marsh hard. The brunette responded instantly, wrapping her arms around Erica's neck. Lips and tongues snaked out, finding their own timing as they met in a growing battle. As Erica reached to grab Marsh around the waist, she accidentally came down hard on a group of keys, a dissonant barrage of notes flying out of the piano. Immediately the two women heard laughing from behind them.

"Ya know, Marsh, I was going to invite you to perform as a guest in my next show, but you sound like crap."

Marsh turned beet red and buried her face in Erica's shoulder. Getting ribbed my Laura she could handle. Getting caught kissing she could handle. But having Kate standing there smirking at her like she was actually did embarrass Marsh. She was used to people liking her; she hadn't had to prove herself as a person in a very long time.

"Yeah, and if that's the only action that piano is ever gonna get, maybe we should just bring it along and use it as firewood."

"No! This is a gorgeous piano, I haven't played something this nice since college."

"Well, you are more than welcome to come over and play it anytime you want. Seriously, my aunt left it to me and really it's just too heavy to get out of here."

Marsh couldn't read Kate well enough to comment, so she just smiled and nodded.

* * *

The women were an hour into the three hour drive and Marsh was just beginning to regret that little bout of kissing over the piano she and Erica had gotten into. They were holding hands across the back seat of Kate's SUV as the shorter blonde drove and Laura navigated in the passenger seat. Kate had insisted on driving and Laura had called shotgun even as she explained to the group just how carsick she could get. Marsh hadn't minded, but even holding her blonde's hand was distracting her.

Laura had already described how her new show was going while Kate had made asinine comments about not being able to shake your ass to classical music. Erica had yelled at her and told her to behave and Marsh had politely described her last research project in as little detail as possible to allow the other three women to understand it.

She briefly smiled for a moment, realizing how all four of them had to speak about their careers in much simpler terms for outsiders to understand just what it was they did on a daily basis. Teachers didn't have to do this, nor maintenance men or bankers. But scientists, doctors especially, were constantly having to remove all but the basics to convey their deepest passions. Marsh thought momentarily that she would probably read mountains of textbooks to better understand the fire that made Erica drive forward, that made her burn. Hearts she understood, but every time Erica began to drop jargon into casual conversation, Marsh couldn't help but get lost.

Marsh tried to distract herself from the emotionally intense thoughts she was having, because only two nights after they made love for the first time, those thoughts were leading to increasingly dirtier ones.

"So Kate, are we at the point where you start telling embarrassing stories about Erica yet?"

Erica immediately interjected. "Oh, no no no. We aren't even there yet. And I have no place to run away inside this car. I would say no embarrassing stories at all, but with you people, I know there's a slim chance of that. So can we please wait until we get there at least?"

"Oh, fine, E. This'll just give me a chance to think of some really good ones."

Marsh heard Erica mumble something slightly foul under her breath and Marsh smiled. Something about Erica struggling with her outer defenses, the way she could let people in but had such a difficult time doing it made Marsh happy. Because what she was seeing was change, was someone who was not accepting the easy road. Many people Marsh knew were good at talking about themselves, good at sharing and while that made for good, healthy relationships, the effort they put forth was minimal. Marsh knew that Erica, on the other hand, worked every time she told a story from her past, every time she held Marsh's hand in public, every time she fell into bed with Marsh and let herself go. Marsh knew she had an incredibly strong woman that was capable of pushing her own boundaries.

And at that moment in the car, that was just one more thing Marsh found incredibly sexy. She slipped her hand from Erica's which earned her a confused look until she replaced the hand onto Erica's thigh. She smiled sweetly and started tracing small circles with her fingertips on Erica's legs. The innocence of the gesture melted away as Marsh's fingers inched closer to the blonde's center. Erica shot Marsh a warning look which only fueled her desire. Her hand danced around Erica's inner thigh, moving steadily toward her goal.

Erica's face was twisted in a odd mixture of building pleasure and reproach at Marsh for getting frisky in the back seat of the car. She hoped Kate wasn't choosing this moment to check her rearview mirror. Her body wanted Marsh's fingers in between her legs, she wanted Marsh's hands everywhere. But then there were two other women less than a couple feet from the couple and Erica did not want to get caught. She was not a woman who was going to get caught touching inappropriately in the backseat like some frisky teenager.

"Oh!" Erica exclaimed as Marsh's fingers finally found the apex between her legs. Marsh's eyes went wide, as Erica caught herself.

"We should play a game!" Erica continued, with an unusually high level of enthusiasm in her voice.

"Um, ok little Erica," Kate mocked. "Wanna play the license plate game?"

"Uhh . ." Erica couldn't think as Marsh's middle finger started making small circles over Erica's most sensitive part.

"How about state capitals," Marsh jumped in and offered, never missing a beat.

"Nerd." Laura joined the conversation.

"Well traveled nerd. I'll quiz you guys." Marsh kept going as Erica turned to her to mouth 'stop it.'

"I know 'em all, shoot." Kate's competitive streak was legendary and Erica would have commented had she retained the mental capacity for such a task as Marsh quickly brought her the closest she'd ever come to an orgasm while wearing clothes.

"Florida?" Marsh glanced over and saw Erica's eyes tightly shut. She knew Erica was close.

"Tallahassee."

"Nevada?" She asked again, her feeling bad over touching Erica in the backseat of the car fading altogether as she saw Erica biting her cheeks to not cry out. She would pay for this later, but it was oh so worth it in the moment.

"Carson City."

"Ohio?"

"Cleveland. No! Columbus!"

"North Dakota?" Marsh continued asking away as drove Erica higher.

"Pierre. No, Bismark. No, Pierre. Oh crap, I always mix these up. It's one of those."

Laura jumped in, "It's Bismark. The capitals are in alphabetical order from North to South."

"Oh my god!" Erica nearly screamed as Marsh's workings because too much and she convulsed into orgasm, just barely catching herself after an awkward, silent pause. "You're an even worse well traveled nerd."

Laura looked a little confused and just a bit scared, but answered Erica anyway. "Um, yeah, musician's brain, you know. Too creative for our own good."

Erica's breathing slowly returned to normal as she looked over to Marsh with a look that made Marsh glad she would never have to intern under Erica. She mouthed a 'you're dead' at the brunette, adding a twist of a smirk as she sat back to face forward. Marsh kept her hands to herself the remaining hour of the ride, but not without a rather self-satisfied look on her face.

* * *

Erica, Marsh, Kate and Laura were walking, kayaks in tow, toward the small river near their cabin in an area that Erica had lovingly referred to as 'the middle of nowhere.' In actuality this remote mountain area tucked up near the border of Maryland and Pennsylvania was quite beautiful, and although Erica had appreciated that fact as they navigated the dirt rode that led them to their cabin, she also realized it had been quite a long time since she had been without modern amenities.

Upon arriving at their rustic log cabin, they had claimed rooms. Kate demanded that Erica and Marsh take a room of their own because she 'didn't need to be seeing any of that.' The new couple protested enough to be polite but not enough to give up the privacy of their own room. Kate had then demanded that Laura take the remaining room, which seemed noble enough, until she revealed that she just wanted to be able to fall asleep to the only tv in the cabin, which happened to be in the living room area. Erica was about to question her best friend's tv addiction out here in the woods but thought better of it. She was determined to use this weekend to relax.

They reached the river and Kate addressed the new couple who she had already noticed were stealing glances of each other left and right. "Alright, you two take the red one and Laura and I will take the blue one." She used her hands to indicate each of the two person kayaks.

Erica again questioned Kate's intentions but, as stubborn as she knew she was, she had seen firsthand in the hospital that Kate was worse than her.

"Ok!" Marsh responded with her usual amount of enthusiasm.

"Kate, I think you should know I'm not much of an athlete," Laura said quietly to the small blonde, whom Laura feared was entirely too competitive for her ambition.

"Oh, me either honey," Kate whispered quietly, adding, "And we're going to use that to our advantage. These two won't be able to help themselves."

"Wait, what?"

"You'll see."

The four women, occupying their two kayaks, made their way down the river. The water was calm, the early June weather was cooperative and each of these professionally driven people took a few minutes to simply relax. Erica momentarily envied Marsh and the fact that her job centered on these outdoor areas, until she felt a twinge of almost fear at the idea of never holding a scalpel again.

"This is really great, Kate. Thanks again for inviting us all out here," Marsh said across the gap of water.

"No problem. Been out here once before, I really loved it. But there was no way I was coming back out alone!"

"Would have been bored?" Marsh ventured.

"No, just afraid of the dark." Kate kept talking through the outburst of laughter, completely unfazed. "Whatever, after the Blair Witch Project, I won't be caught dead alone in the woods of Maryland."

"Um, Kate, you know there were three people that didn't make it to the end of that movie, right?" Laura said gingerly.

"Shut up. All of you. I will be the last one laughing when you three are attacked by the forest witches and mass murderers hiding in the woods out here."

"No, you'll just be the fourth one dead," Erica said. Marsh turned around and caught the smirk that accompanied the comment and smiled wide. Erica cocked her head to the side, not understanding just how cute Marsh thought she was.

"I hate you all. Ok, enough of this. How about a race?"

"What?"

"Hell, no."

"A race?"

Kate jabbed Laura with one end of her paddle and quietly added, "Just go with me here."

Laura wasn't convinced, but she wanted to be here for Marsh this weekend, and apparently that included keeping Erica's half crazy friend happy.

"Yeah, you two. A race. We'd kick your asses."

Erica and Marsh exchanged a quick look that suggested otherwise, their competitive drives quite a sight to be seen when acting in sync.

"Oh, you're on. And you're going down." Marsh jumped in.

"Oh look, the new lovers think their boat runs of looove. Erica'll probably spend the entire time staring at Miss Marcia's ass - "

"Ok, that's it! Let's go!" Erica blushed even as she interrupted their friends.

"Yeah, and Marsh used to be in shape, but I think the only workouts she's been getting lately are in - "

"To that grove of trees down there, where the stream bends! Now!"

Erica and Marsh began paddling furiously, focused only on the water in front of them. They quickly fell into a rhythm and sped ahead, one stroke after another. Erica did let her mind wander momentarily to the thought of Marsh at the gym, sweaty mid-work out, in the locker room showers after she was done. The blonde thought she might just have to get a gym membership herself to play out that fantasy . . .

"Erica!"

The surgeon snapped out of her daydream as the object of her desire called to her. She was about to yell at her girlfriend for her pause in paddling when she followed the brunette's pointing finger and realized that Kate and Laura had not moved more than the few meters the current had taken them. She and Marsh, however were a few hundred meters down the stream.

"What the hell?" Erica asked.

"I think they tricked us. Those bastards."

"This probably isn't good."

Meanwhile, Kate and Laura sat laughing for a good long while in their own kayak, staring at the two determined women. They certainly were a force to be reckoned with. Kate thought Marsh might have even made a good doctor in another life.

"Oh, geez. That was certainly funny. You just wanted to egg them on, huh?"

Kate answered slowly, "Well, that was part of it, yeah. But, I'm also looking out for Erica, I suppose." Laura's eyebrows told of her confusion. "See, Erica is kind of my person. I've grown to like her this past year, she keeps me sane. But I know she'd kick my ass if I started interrogating Marsh already, so I figured you're the next best thing."

Laura slowly nodded. "Ah, I think I get it. You're protecting her. What do you want to know?"

Kate went for point blank, as was her usual style. "Is Marsh gonna end up pulling the 'I'm ok on the outside now, but I'm actually still crazy because my wife died' act?"

Laura didn't bat an eye. "Is Erica going to eventually run away because she's been overworked and slightly repressed her whole life and waited until she was 41 to realize she's gay?"

Kate's steely gaze slowly broke down into a smile. "They make a good pair, don't they?"

"I think they do actually. I haven't seen her this happy in years. And I knew Lisa, knew them both really well. I think . . . ya know, if she and Erica had met years earlier, who knows. So yeah, they're a good match."

"I'm glad. Because Erica's beaming, and as much as that kind of scares the shit out of me, I think she deserves it. I mean, mostly I don't want to feel bad about telling her stories about my hot 25-year-old husband."

Laura first laughed at Kate's attempt at a heart-felt response and then processed exactly what the doctor had said. "Wait, 25?"

"Yup. And hot."

Laura leaned back across the boat and offered Kate a high five. "Damn, that's impressive."

"Yeah, I know. Alright, should we go get them?"

"Yeah," Laura looked downstream and saw her friend and Erica kissing. "And soon if you want to return these boats without any questionable substances all over them!"

"Gross." They began paddling.

* * *

In protest of their dear friends' antics, Marsh and Erica had agreed to the silent treatment for the time being once they got back to their cabin. After several unsuccessful attempts to mollify the situation, Kate and Laura gave up and decided to make dinner. The pair continued to chat away while they prepared a selection of hot dogs and hamburgers over their open flame grill. Erica had wanted to object to the unhealthy meat choices, but the fact that she didn't bring a healthy alternative herself kept her quiet. That and her pride in making Kate suffer out the consequences of her little stunt. Besides, she had other pre-dinner plans.

"Hey, come here." Erica grabbed Marsh's hand and drew her into a long, slow kiss. Erica had made sure they were around the corner and out of sight, but Marsh could have cared less once Erica's lips were on hers.

"Mmm, what was that for Dr. Hahn? Is all this fresh air making you frisky?"

"Maybe. Thanks for coming out this weekend." Erica smiled as she tucked some unruly curls behind Marsh's ear.

"Are you kidding, I love this kind of thing. If Kate hadn't suggested it, I would have dragged you out to the forest at some point or another. Besides," she said, nuzzling close into Erica's neck, wrapping her arms around the blonde, "outdoor sex is kind of the best sex ever."

Erica resisted a blush. "Oh really, Dr. S.? And have you had a lot of outdoor sex?"

"Well, I am an outdoors kind of girl . . ."

Erica glanced down briefly to the silver necklace at the hollow of Marsh's neck. She couldn't help it. She only spent an instant thinking about Marsh's life before her; the brunette had assured her that she had moved on and although it was incredibly difficult for Erica at times, she knew she had to trust her. So she did. And so, Erica decided to put her plan into action.

Her lips hovered at the edge of the brunette's ears, coaxing the tiny hairs to stand on end. She felt Marsh quiver slightly at the almost touch. "Well, maybe we can take a walk before dinner?"

Marsh caught the tone evident in Erica's voice and all she could do was nod. "I think there's a path back here that Kate said loops around." She was already dragging Erica by the hand beyond the nearest line of trees.

Erica had to practically break into a jog to keep up with Marsh. She laughed silently to herself at the younger woman's enthusiasm, entirely glad that she had found someone who could make her smile like this. A year ago, she had been forging a friendship with Callie, their relationship just beginning to turn into something more. She never imagined herself back on the east coast, running through the woods, chasing a beautiful woman. Running after a beautiful woman for secret outdoor sex of all things.

At this thought, Erica closed the distance between her and Marsh, grabbed her hand and swung her around so they were facing each other. She pounced on the brunette's lips, drawing her into a fierce open mouthed kiss. Marsh moaned loudly at Erica's ferocity as she brought both hands up to the blonde's face. Erica backed her up until she had Marsh trapped against a sizable tree. The uneven bark dug into Marsh's back, but she thought anything would be worth it for this kiss, for this woman.

"Hey, Erica, can I ask you something?" Marsh suddenly demurred, looking apprehensively at the ground.

"Yeah, of course," Erica replied, suddenly nervous.

"Are we . . . you know, are we . . . exclusive?"

Erica's eyes narrowed, trying to interpret what Marsh was asking. "Is this where you tell me you actually want to sleep with Kate?"

"What? No! Ew. I just meant, I was wondering if, if you and I, if I could say we were, you know - "

"Hey rambles!" Erica interjected, cutting Marsh's adorable rant off. "I know I don't want to be dating anyone else right now. I want you, just you, only you. If you feel the same way, then yes, we're exclusive. And if you don't, well, then, I'm sure I could convince Kate to leave you out here." Erica smiled wide.

"Good! Because I've been wanting to call you my girlfriend for a while now, but I just wasn't sure. I know this is only your second . . . foray into lesbian land, I just needed to make sure."

The brunette looked into Erica's eyes. "Marsh, I would love to be your girlfriend." She cocked her head slightly, "Although, I do have to admit, the semantics of it all are still taking some getting used to."

"Yeah, it does take a little while. For the little things to sink in."

"Yeah, but I've never felt more right about anyone before, about this." Erica blushed at the realization.

Marsh used a finger to lift Erica's chin up to where it had embarrassedly fallen against her chest. "Hey, me too." And with that she leaned in to kiss the blonde, her girlfriend, effectively ending the conversation.

Erica immediately began kissing down Marsh's neck, down her low cut v-neck shirt, and then dropped to her knees. She silently thanked Marsh's decision to wear one of those sexy athletic skirts that looked like they belonged on a tennis star. She ran her hands down Marsh's legs, toned and strong, but quivering under Erica's wandering hands. She placed a single kiss on the inside of each of Marsh's knees before looking up at the brunette with saucer plate eyes.

"So, that little stunt you pulled today in the car," Erica said sweetly, only her eyes suggesting that this was the calm before the storm.

Marsh knew she was about to pay anyway. "Um, I'm not sure what you're talking about, Erica."

Erica's baby blues narrowed. "Oh really, is that how you want to play this?" She pushed just her fingertips up the insides of Marsh's legs, slower than seemed realistically possible. Marsh unconsciously took a wider stance, wrapping her arms backward around the trunk of the tree she was sidled up against.

She couldn't help but keep egging on the blonde. "Play what, darling?" Her breath caught in her throat as Erica's fingertips reached the edge of her thin cotton panties. Though Marsh tried to thrust forward with her hips, Erica's fingers lingered on the edge of the fabric, barely tracing the brunette's skin.

"Hmm, because I seem to remember a certain brunette, a very cute brunette, with gorgeous green eyes, and a beautiful smile, and," Erica whispered in her gravely alto as she let one hand begin to graze Marsh's panties, which were already absorbing her desire, "hands that she just could keep to herself."

"Ohhh," Marsh cried out as Erica's hand found her most sensitive spot. "You mean that little stunt. I might have some memory of that." Marsh's eyes were closed, her brain barely able to muster up the banter needed to keep Erica talking, keep her hands moving.

Erica continued to talk to Marsh intermittently as she placed gossamer light kisses along the insides of Marsh's leg, working her way north to Marsh's center. Her fingers continued tracing ever so light lines from Marsh's now soaked core up to her overly sensitive clit. Marsh kept trying to increase the pressure from Erica's fingers through her flimsy panties, but Erica moved with her lover, keeping her touches teasing.

"See, it's not that I didn't enjoy it. Because I did, really I did." Her fingers, still on the outside of Marsh's panties began to move faster. "It's just that, the way you were touching me, made me want to scream, made me want to be loud, made me wish I could have thrown you down and had my way with you right there in the back seat."

Suddenly, Erica slipped two fingers past the cotton barrier, into Marsh's core. The brunette cried out into the forest and nearly lost the ability to hold herself up. Erica wrapped a strong arm around Marsh and slowly began to move in and out of her, slowly pulling her fingers out and quickly thrusting them back in. Marsh began to subtly bob up and down to the rhythm the blonde set.

"See, this is what I wanted you to be doing to me."

"Oh, Erica," Marsh said out loud as she momentarily thought that this was easily the best punishment she'd ever endured.

Erica then slid Marsh's panties all the way down her legs, but stopping short of pulling them all the way off. She landed a few sweet kisses on the patch of hair at the apex of Marsh's legs and then let her tongue delve into the younger woman's folds. Marsh was crying out and although Erica knew the chances of anyone else being in the area were slim, she briefly realized they would be getting a show if they were.

Erica's original pre-dinner plans had including a lot more teasing and a good chance of leaving her brunette lover completely unsatisfied. But as Marsh stood above her, eyes closed in the falling dusk of the forest, writhing and in tune with her touch, Erica knew nothing would stop her from bringing this woman as much pleasure as she could.

"Oh god, Erica, don't stop."

Erica quickened the pace of her tongue and fingers at the same time, and not moments later, Marsh began to spasm as she came against the tree. Erica held her up through the waves of pleasure, then slowly lowered her onto the ground where the two women caught their breath. Never did Erica think she would be so happy laying on the dirt floor of a forest with a girl.

"Fuck, Erica."

"Ooh, that sounds fun too," Erica said, rolling onto her side to embrace Marsh.

Marsh laughed heartily, "Oh I will, but I think if we stay out here any longer, Kate is going to suspect foul play and come looking for us."

"Eh, I don't think finding me in flagrante delicto is anything Kate ever wants to be a part of. Plus, I think she and Laura are getting along."

"Yeah, I was a little worried about that, but it seems like they're bonding."

"Yeah, they've probably moved on to telling stories about - " Erica stopped abruptly and looked seriously at her girlfriend.

Marsh understood at the same time, "Oh god, we have to get back!" She stood up quickly, forgetting the fact that her underwear was still down around her ankles, and proceeded to trip. Erica's surgeon reflexes were quick, though, and she quickly caught the brunette. She pulled her into one long, searing kiss before fixing her underwear and taking her hand and leading her back down the forest path.

* * *

The four women were seated around a large fire that Marsh and Laura had eventually set burning. At first, the two surgeons were determined to start the campfire, an extension of their mission to supply the full camping experience for the other women whom they considered their guests. About a half an hour and some not so silent giggling from the peanut gallery later, the doctors gave up and challenged their counterparts to do a better job. Which they did. In a matter of minutes.

Egos having recovered, the women were now enjoying post-dinner marshmallows. Again, Erica commented on the lack of healthy dessert options.

"Really, Erica. Stop being a wet blanket, Marsh here is going to realize, I mean _think_, you're boring or something," Kate laughed.

"Oh be quiet. It's just that overloading myself with copious amounts of sugar is not my idea of fun."

"Did I not also provide you with several bottles of your favorite wine?"

Erica took another sip of the pinot which Kate did think to bring for her. It was these little details that let Erica knew she really cared. "That you did, Kate."

Marsh stuffed third marshmallow into a mouth full of beer and asked, "And Erica, you're still on your first one anyway."

"I'm just roasting the marshmallow properly. Giving it the respect it deserves and - "

"Fuck!" Everyone looked up at Kate to see a burnt crispy mess falling half onto the ground and half into Kate's mouth which she had angled sideways under the melting, sugary mess. The women laughed in unison while Kate muttered obscenities through her mouthful.

"I'm with you, Erica. You might as well do it right. They're called toasted marshmallows, not burnt, drippy, falling apart sugary blobs," Laura joined in.

"Oh, you're gonna get it," Kate said through her full mouth of sugar. "And after we shared all those stories this afternoon."

Both Erica and Marsh's eyes widened at the idea of their best friends spilling their most intimate secrets. The other two left a dramatic pause before busting into loud laughter.

"Oh, thank god," Marsh said, her hand dramatically pressed against her chest.

Erica noticed the gesture and jumped in with, "Um, Marsh? Do you really have stories that are so bad you don't want me to hear them yet?" Her half smirk and flashing eyes assured Marsh that she wanted to hear all of her stories, no matter what, but Marsh still hesitated through her smile.

"No, it's just that some of the stories probably require a lot of backstory, an explanation that explains why I . . . did some of the things I did, not that any of them were particularly terrible, I mean I don't want you thinking I'm some kind of - "

"Marcia! Calm it down." Erica was going to say until Laura said it first. The blonde appreciated the way her girlfriend's friend knew her.

Kate acted on the twinkle in her eye and suggested, "Ok, 'never have I ever' then."

"What's that," Laura and Marsh asked together.

"We go around and each say things we've never done. If you have done it, you take a drink. If it's something crazy, you tell a story. That's all."

Neither of the other three women were sure about it but when Kate launched into the first round, they knew they were playing no matter what.

"Ok, never have I ever made out with a girl."

Erica and Marsh took sips of their drinks, blushing a little at their pastoral fantasy that had played out hours before.

Laura went next. "Never have I ever . . . done cocaine."

The other three women took drinks together, all looking at each other accusingly anyway.

"Erica, really?" Kate was surprised that she didn't know this fact about the woman who she had easily come to consider her best friend at Georgetown.

"It was the 80's?" She shrugged her shoulders, adding, "I was trying to impress a boy, what can I say. It was once, it just made me talk a lot, people said I was pretty funny."

Marsh laughed at the thought of Erica being a bad girl and jumped into the game, "Ok, never have I ever slept with a boy!" The statement came out of her so proudly she beamed.

Everyone else around the fire drank, but only Erica gave a brief shudder afterward.

"Oh, come E, it's not that bad," Kate insisted.

"You know, it was what it was. But the alternative is just so so so much better." She reached out to grab Marsh's hand.

"Gross. Ok, E, your turn."

Erica thought long and hard, playing this game as she would any others. Her contribution had to be surprising enough to impress the three women she was with, while still not encroaching on the barriers that Erica still held near and dear.

"Ok, never have I ever had surgery."

Kate cocked her head to the side, even more confused. "Wow, really."

"My tonsils are healthy, all my wisdom teeth came in, and knock on wood, no traumas. Yeah, it's something I think about every now and then when I watch them putting my patients under. I've never been on that table."

"That's crazy, Erica," Marsh said, "Do you ever feel like you're missing something?"

"Um, no? I don't know I guess. No." Erica shrugged.

"Don't worry, Erica. When you're old body starts to kick it, I'll make sure you end in my OR," Kate didn't wait for Erica's surly comeback before she continued, "Never have I ever used a sex toy."

Erica and Laura blushed into the darkness of the forest night while Marsh hurriedly took a large swig of beer, obviously thinking she'd be drinking with company. On realizing that she was the only woman drinking, she giggled and almost choked on her beer.

"Wait, really? There's no way none of you . . . even just a . . . really?" Marsh tried to defend herself.

Laura simply shook her head no while Kate bluntly said, "I don't need 'em, not with my 25-year-old hottie husband."

"Yeah, but with that IQ, he qualifies as a sex toy anyway," Erica threw across the fire, more than tipsy on the bottle of wine she was almost done polishing off.

"Um, don't hate. Besides, I figured with you being all alone for the last century or so, you'd have bought stock in your favorite vibrator corporation."

Erica quickly went through the motions of being embarrassed, being angry and relaxing into passive grin. She took a deep breath and gave Kate her best Dr. Hahn glare while willing herself to keep calm at the very personal accusation.

She chose to respond with, "I've just been spending my money on hookers, not sex toys."

The beat Erica waited kept the group silent until she cracked half a smile at which they all burst out in laughter. Kate couldn't get over the idea of Erica Hahn on a street corner trying to correctly negotiate for a working girl. Laura was put at ease by Erica's obvious sense of slightly self-deprecating humor. And Marsh's brain was riddled by dueling ideas of just how much she was falling for this intense, complicated and sarcastic woman and just how much she wanted to be the one to introduce the blonde to the world of sex toys.

Laura figured it was her turn again. "Ok, never have I ever . . . "she was ether thinking hard about this round or getting as tipsy as the other three were, "been to a shrink."

The mood didn't drop necessarily but each of the other three women paused more than a brief second to think about the time they had each spent in the chair. Each silently pondered the hard times they'd come through, how they'd made it through and where they were now.

Marsh nodded to herself as if she suddenly realized that she was in no way ashamed of the time she had spent dealing with grief and took a large sip of her beer. "I think everyone here knows my story. I'd be crazy if I hadn't done the whole crazy doctor thing."

Erica jumped in, emboldened by her new girlfriend's admission. "Gay at forty!" was her short response, fully realizing there were other things she had talked to counselors about and double that number that she should have.

Kate dramatically chugged at her bottle until it was empty, burped loudly into the calm forest night and exclaimed, "Shitty childhood in the middle of a shitty bumpkin town in the south with even shittier parents."

The other women softly smiled in sympathy until Kate continued. "Oh, and I'm friends with this one," she said pointing to Erica, "and I suppose that makes me certifiable." Erica leaned over and punched her best friend square in the arm harder than she intended to, spilling a bit of her wine in the process.

"Ass."

The night continued on much like this for a while, the four women sharing secrets of varying magnitude one at a time. Eventually, the fire weaned and they collectively decided not to stoke it. They each retired to their sleeping areas of the cabin and Marsh and Erica found themselves sharing a bed once again.

"You're certainly cuddly right now, Dr. Hahn."

"I just drank a bottle of wine and one of your icky, thick, black beers," Erica laughed, adding, "And what have I told you about calling me Dr. Hahn. We are in a cabin, in the middle of the woods, no where near a hospital. And for the first time in a long, long, long time . . . that feels really good."

"You're cute when you're drunk." Marsh smiled, sidling up closer to Erica as they laid on their sides, face to face in the dark of their bed. She put her hand on the blonde's waist and traced light circles on Erica's skin just above her light sleep shorts.

"Whatever, you're drunk too," Erica partially slurred.

"Oh, I never said I wasn't." She continued as she eased her hands up into Erica's shirt, lingering just shy of anything Erica really wanted her to touch. "Just that you're kind of adorable when you are."

"Cute . . . adorable . . . I don't think I do these words."

"Oh, I think you do them just fine."

Marsh leaned in and kissed Erica, at the same time moving her hand to cup one of Erica's freed up breasts. Erica sliced through Marsh's unruly curls with her long fingers as she grasped the brunette's head. They unconsciously pressed the lengths of their bodies together, their thin choices of clothing to sleep in leaving little in between them.

One of Erica's thighs managed to slip in between Marsh's legs and Marsh rolled them both slightly so the blonde was now on top of her. They traded a variety of kisses from slow and teasing to quick and reaffirming while gently rocking against each other, neither with any need to rush the moment, and indeed still adjusting to the new feelings of their bodies moving together.

Suddenly, Marsh started giggling. Erica pulled back, unnerved.

"Um, am I amusing you, Marcia?"

"Eww, don't call me that, I hate it. And no." She ran a couple of fingers along the side of Erica's face in reverence. "Just still embarrassed that I'm the only person here who's ever used sex toys. Makes me feel all dirty like."

"We had a guy come into the ER a few months ago who had a . . . an object lodged in his - "

"Ok, that's not helping. Nevermind."

"No, sorry. I think it's . . . fine, hot actually, very hot. I've just never been in a situation to buy one . . . or use one," Erica said slowly, tentatively, her hands tracing absent-minded patterns on Marsh's skin.

"Well, maybe we'll just have to wander into a certain store and shop around sometime." Marsh rose up to nibble on Erica's earlobe before adding, "Because the idea of you all dominant and Dr. Hahn-like, fucking me makes me kind of melt."

Even as Erica blushed and slightly winced at Marsh's dirty talk, she felt the wetness pooling between her legs. "Well, I'm not totally convinced but I do find it hard to resist anything you want . . . which I'm starting to realize is really dangerous."

"Erica, I'm going to make you two promises tonight. One, I know you're still new to a lot. I would never pressure you into something you really didn't want to do. That being said, number two, I will always push your boundaries." She smiled and ran a hand through her mess of brown curls, taking a breath. "You have walls. And I'm not looking to break them, I just . . . want to chisel at them a bit. Because I already know that the Erica behind those walls is the Erica I want to spend a lot of time with."

Erica wasted no words and instead pulled the brunette into a searing kiss. Erica used her touch at that moment to convey without speaking what her looks and glances did at other times. She let the majority of her weight rest on Marsh as she unconsciously began to move her hips. Marsh lifted a leg over the blonde, drawing her in closer.

Marsh rolled over so she was on top and lifted her shirt up over her head. She shivered just a bit in the cool mountain air but wasted no time tugging at Erica's shirt until it too came off, with some help from the blonde. She quickly kissed down Erica's neck, chest and stomach to the edge of her striped boxers and in one shot ripped those and her simple cotton panties off. She shimmied her own off and dropped back down onto her lover.

"Aahh, now that's better, isn't it?"

Erica groaned at the contact, still novel, still more exciting than she was used to. She mustered up her voice and responded, "Yes, yes it is . . . not as exciting as sex in the woods, but ya know."

"We could always take a walk." Marsh trailed both her hands along Erica's chest, relishing in the simple exploration of Erica's body.

Erica laughed out loud. "Um, no. It's cold outside. And there are bears . . . and wolves . . . and crawly things."

"I can't take you seriously when you're naked, I hope you know that. And really, Erica? Bears and wolves? And crawly things?"

"I'll have you know that you should take me seriously no matter what state of dress I'm in," Erica said through a growing smile. "Now we can wander around in the dark, dangerous night where we could very easily get eaten by a giant beast . . . or you could take me right here, right now in this bed."

And that was all that Marsh needed. She leaned into the hollow of Erica's throat and lapped up Erica's taste with an eager tongue. She alternated between quick, gentle kisses and rough exploration of Erica's skin with her mouth. Erica's head was thrown back, her mind slowly losing conscious thought as Marsh tuned into her corporeal drive.

She trailed an eager hand down Erica's chest, over her stomach, and lightly tickled at the blonde's hips. She wanted to draw this out, she really did, but she needed to touch Erica more closely, she needed it then and simply didn't want to wait any longer. As a scientist, she had learned patience as a skill akin to statistics or calculus, but in all honesty, it was a virtue she constantly had to fight to retain. And although she and Erica had only been dating several weeks and had been physical for only a fraction of that, she already knew Erica had about as much patience at any given time as she did.

As Marsh's fingertips dipped in between Erica's legs, she learned she was right. A sheen of moisture already clung to Marsh's fingers; she moaned and threw her own head back at the realization that this amazing woman was so turned on by her.

Erica unconsciously let her legs fall open and Marsh took full advantage, slipping two fingers inside her new girlfriend and beginning to stroke slowly. She moved fluidly, reacting to the movement of Erica's hips and the increased sound of her breathing. Marsh quickly added a third finger and let the weight of her hips strengthen her thrust.

"Ohh, Marsh. That feels . . ." Erica barely expressed as she suddenly reached two hands backward to the headboard of stylishly whittled logs to get a grip on something.

"Here, come here," Marsh said in labored breaths as she steadied herself with one strong arm as the other grabbed one of Erica's hands with the other, wrapping it around her own waist. She then drew Erica's head up and kissed her.

At this point, it was a sloppy kiss. A tongue hurriedly swept along lips, teeth lightly clashed in an effort to get closer, an effort of the two women to join together wherever they could. Someone moaned into the other's mouth and the other one panted with quick, shallow breaths.

Marsh began to feel Erica's hips quicken beneath her. She met the older woman's pace and let Erica's head drop down to her pillow, her face tensing as Marsh brought her to the edge. Erica rocked and Marsh thrusted until suddenly, Erica cried out in a voice so high Marsh's pride was partially pushed out of the way by a sense of embarrassment Marsh knew her girlfriend would feel if she were to hear herself.

She had come hard and it took a long while for her to return to the present moment. Marsh rode it out until Erica settled into a restful position. She gently withdrew her fingers, slowly enough to make Erica buck in aftershock just a couple times.

"Oh my god . . . I've never . . . not from just that," Erica drawled, her voice impossibly low, "Just . . . wow."

"I . . ." Marsh suddenly felt emotion rise up in her chest at the moment, at this woman beneath her. "I . . . am really glad you invited me this weekend."

Erica smirked and cocked her head a little as if she knew what had almost just happened, but dismissed the awkwardness of the moment immediately, still unbelievably turned on, despite having just had an intense orgasm.

"I'm glad you came," Erica smiled goofily, all teeth and gums. "Oh wait, you haven't yet."

"Really? Did you really just - "

Before Marsh could try to react to the terrible joke, Erica had reached a hand up between the brunette's legs and started gently stroking, rocking her wrist back and forth. She attempted to keep control, protected by her lingering smirk, despite the fact that Marsh was soaking wet and Erica could barely contain herself.

"Ohh, ok, make any bad jokes you want. Just keep doing that."

"Oh, I intend to."

In one quick move that Erica wished were a little smoother, she flipped her girlfriend over so that she was on top. She continued to stroke between Marsh's legs, drawing the moisture all over. She lightly graced Marsh's clit, but made no commitments, letting her skilled hands explore leisurely. Well, as leisurely as it could get for two women so turned on by each other.

"So, you really want me to fuck you? Like with a . . .?" The thought had been bouncing around Erica's mind since the campfire, but the reality of idea, including the language, evaded her.

Marsh could barely register what was coming out of Erica's mouth at this point; all she could process were the blonde's fingers, ones she desperately needed more of. But she couldn't resist furthering the discussion.

"Yeah, I do. This right here. Is hot. And you all harnessed up . . . I wouldn't last long, that's all I have to say."

Erica bit her bottom lip and studied Marsh, the look of lust in her green eyes, her unruly hair splayed on the pillow underneath her. She didn't think she could deny this woman much if anything. And that went double in bed.

"Ok. Fine. Shopping when we get back to civilization then." Erica kept her face straight as Marsh's face lit up and then tensed in pleasure as Erica suddenly slipped two digits into her lover. "You still take yoga, right?"

"Uhh . . . what? Yeah, I . . . ohhhh . . . I do." Marsh's brain partially turned off as Erica's hand moved in and out of her.

In a split second, Erica withdrew her fingers and quickly shifted Marsh's legs so they were both resting against her, Marsh's ankles at her shoulders. She quickly reached down and let her fingers find Marsh's folds, eventually using three fingers to enter her girlfriend. Erica leaned toward Marsh, gently bending her legs backward.

Marsh let her eyes close and her body feel as Erica did things to her no one else had or could. She silently thanked her yoga instructor of four years for teaching her the flexibility that allowed her to get into this position. It was, by far, the sexiest thing she'd done with Erica; physically Erica had command over her body but it was the emotion, the subtle power and gentle domination she displayed that sent Marsh over the edge.

"Oh god, E, oh god!" Marsh cried out as she came under the onslaught of Erica's deft fingers.

As Marsh slowly came down, Erica gently shifted the brunette's legs so they were again wrapped around her waist. She moved to settle herself next to Marsh but instead the younger woman grabbed the blonde and pulled her down directly on top of her.

"I still want to feel you. I need to still feel you close."

Erica nodded slowly and let her weight blanket the gorgeous woman beneath her. She really couldn't resist this woman, although if the demands kept coming in veins like this, Erica really didn't see a problem with surrendering a little control.

In the rooms adjacent to the new couples', an amused young Asian, and a grossed out small blonde both shook their heads simultaneously, wondering if the barrage of sex noises was over for the evening. And although they were each happy for their respective friends finding happiness, they were each tired, in need of sleep, and already thinking up ways to get back at the happy couple the next morning.

**A/N: Yes, no? Am I slightly forgiven for taking ages to update? So this story has been fairly happy go lucky so far, but come on, it's Erica we're talking about. A little bit of freaking out and power tripping to come. Also, perhaps, some adventures with strippers, incidents with residents, and a trip to a scandalous store! **


End file.
